81.4 Summer 2022

Published 1 December 2022

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‘Australia Where’ is the coverline for the December 2022 edition of Meanjin, Jonathan Green’s last as editor. Various essays in this edition address elements of national character and direction.

Historian Mark McKenna’s ‘Australia in Four Referendums’ looks at the recent sweep of referendum history since the momentous 1967 vote, while Darumbal/South Sea islander journalist Amy McQuire writes on ‘The Act of Disappearing’: “We do not know how many Aboriginal women have gone ‘missing’ in this country… To understand the violence of silence and silencing, we must first understand what has been silenced.” Meanwhile, Waanyi writer Alexis Wright considers how her ancient culture has responded to ongoing destruction—and how to bear witness to the creation of a post-apocalyptic world.

Plus: Guy Rundle on the Australian Labor Party’s right turn, Paul Daley on the enduring whiteness of our founding military mythology, Scott Stephens on the choked breath of public discourse, Mark Kenny writes on the possibility of a progressive patriotism, and Anna Spargo-Ryan asks: “Will we fuck for pleasure in the apocalypse?”