The familiar question on family road trips was always, “Are we there yet?”.
Of course, in most cases, the good thing was that when we did eventually get there in our Australian-built Holden Special, there was usually fun awaiting us.
Either surfing, shooting, eating, or all the above – so in most cases, there was an expectation of joy at the end of whatever road we were on.
In those days, with no radio in the car (as they weren’t standard options in poverty pack Holdens), we would play games to keep us occupied.
‘I spy’ was one, but my favourite was counting cars.
I would bag Holdens, and my opposition being mum, dad or my brother, would get all the rest.
I usually won: that’s how many there used to be on the road.
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
I mention this for a couple of reasons.
‘Are we there yet?’ could now be asked by millions of Australians about whether we have arrived at the recession the Reserve Bank keeps warning us about.
And if so, can we have an interest rate cut as inflation should have bottomed out?
Well, it appears we are not there yet, which I find confusing.
At the same time, as people are being forced to tighten their belts, we have politicians on both sides promising (the Opposition) and giving cash away (incumbents) like there is no tomorrow.
It sort of bothers me that, on one hand, we hear stories of kids going to school with no lunch and on the other hand, politicians and bureaucrats finding money to basically win elections with zero idea of what the average family is going through.
I’m not certain about the GDP spiralling downwards while banks make record profits or any other in-depth analysis of the economy.
I just want to know one thing: are we there yet?
It’s a simple question from an average person who, despite not having much intelligence or any degrees, believes that all the measures promised by the Reserve Bank have been quite effective.
Oh, and if you’re wondering where all the Holdens have gone (or other Australian-based manufacturing, for that matter), ask the policymakers and the unions.
With enough time, they might come up with an answer.
If not, I’ll go with Confucius for the above: “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”.
Ashley Robinson is chairman of Sunshine Coast Falcons and Sunshine Coast Thunder Netball, and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident.
