History, the pandemic and the future

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed various features of Australian society, culture and values less visible during ‘ordinary times’. In particular, government’s handling of the crisis indicated the utilitarian caste of the nation’s politics. While collective memory of various episodes from the country’s twentieth-century history – such as the Spanish Influenza pandemic, the Depression and World War II – would be mobilised during the COVID-19 pandemic, the place of this event in the sweep of global and Australian history remains uncertain.