While hundreds of thousands of Australians returned home in 2020, many expatriates have chosen to stay abroad, citing political and cultural frustrations. Among them is Ashton Hollwarth, a vet who moved from Perth to the UK five years ago. ‘It’s difficult to feel a sense of belonging when fellow Australians act like they don’t want us to come home,’ he said, pointing to comments such as ‘you chose to stay there’ and ‘you were told to come home’.
Hugh Rutherford, a photographer and filmmaker living in Kampala, Uganda, said he cringes at Australian politics. ‘We promote ourselves as being welcoming, but we’re really not,’ he said, noting that Ugandans often tell him they would love to live in Australia, but he believes it would be tough for them due to their skin colour. Stuart McDonald, a travel writer based in south-east Asia, described Australia as feeling ‘more and more like the States – angry, corrupt, terrible treatment of minorities’.
Sam Davies, who runs a communications agency in Paris, called Australia ‘a spoilt brat country’ over its climate policy. ‘In Europe countries work together to tackle climate change. Australia still farts on about coal and carbon credits,’ he said. Dr Paul Sendziuk, head of history at the University of Adelaide, suggested that Australians expect more of their country given its advantages, and judge it harshly when it fails to live up to expectations, particularly on refugees.
For expats in tech and creative industries, career prospects are a major concern. Anna Robb, a producer and stage manager, said she couldn’t see a pathway for moving up in Australia. Tara Minton, a jazz musician who moved to London in 2011, said that in Australia people asked ‘Yeah, but what’s your day job?’ as if it was inconceivable to make a living from music. Lashan Ranasinghe, a project manager, said the country is ‘way too conservative in how it views risk’, contrasting it with Montreal where people feel supported to try out ideas.
