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Flat White

Larrikins or lapdogs?

How we became the most compliant of nations

8 May 2025

1:37 PM

8 May 2025

1:37 PM

Part of the Australian national character and mythology is the larrikin tradition, and the allied notion that Australians have a scepticism for authority and rules and will flaunt attempts by the State at coercive control where it’s unwarranted and defies common sense.

This ethos draws on our colonial convict origins and events such as the Rum Rebellion, the Eureka stockade, bushrangers, and other archetypes.

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