Dorothea Mackellar’s poem from 1908, My Country, is famous in Australia despite its outmoded colonial assumptions. Many people are able to quote its lines about ragged mountain ranges, droughts and flooding rains.
However, in this election year, it is worth asking why most contemporary Australian poetry is not more widely read and whether the federal government might try to address this issue. This question has increased relevance in the context of the government’s commitment to appoint an Australian poet laureate in 2025.
