Saturday morning coffee has become my ritual for catching up on reading, and this week I was enjoying a French croissant (from Wild bakery) while flipping through on of The Urbanist magazine (April 2024) from the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
An article about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese drew me in, not merely for its political insights, but for what his personal trajectory reveals about Australian culture. Here was someone who grew up in public housing in Sydney with a single mother, yet rose to lead the nation. His story isn't just political biography: it's a living testament to the "fair go" that distinctly Australian belief that your starting point in life need not define your destination.
What fascinated me wasn't the politics (similar stories of unlikely ascension exist across the political spectrum in Australia) but rather what this reveals about a cultural operating system that produces such outcomes. This cultural value, I've come to realise through my own cross-cultural experiences, creates profound advantages over the more rigid social systems I've encountered in France.
But what exactly makes the fair go so distinctive, and why does it seem to work where other approaches falter?
What Makes the Fair Go So Powerful
The fair go isn't about guaranteeing everyone wins but about ensuring everyone gets to play. This philosophy creates what sociologist Pierre Bourdieu would call "cultural capital", meaning the ability for individuals to transcend their original social class through effort and opportunity, rather than predetermined structural pathways.
In Australian workplaces, you'll find CEOs who genuinely expect to be called by their first names, not out of disrespect, but because hierarchy is seen as functional rather than inherent. This reflects as per organisational theorists "low power distance culture", a situation where authority is questioned, accessibility is valued, and social mobility is genuinely possible.
This extends to how Australians handle failure and success. There's an acceptance that not everyone will reach the top, but there's also an expectation that the game won't be rigged against you. It's a remarkably pragmatic form of optimism that creates what economists call social resilience.
What makes the fair go particularly powerful is that it transcends political divisions. Unlike many cultural concepts that become partisan battlegrounds, the fair go serves as a "valence issue", something all major parties claim to support, though they interpret it differently. The Australian Labor Party typically frames the fair go through a social justice lens, emphasising workers' rights, reducing inequality, and supporting disadvantaged groups. The Liberal Party, conversely, emphasises the fair go as equal opportunity and reward for effort, focusing on business support, competition, and self-reliance.
This bipartisan embrace creates remarkable political stability around core values. Both major parties can invoke the same cultural concept while pursuing different policies, creating continuity even amid political change. This stands in stark contrast to France, where concepts of equality and social organisation often become ideological flashpoints between left and right.
Where French Rigidity Reveals Its Costs
France approaches fairness through an entirely different cultural lens, one I've experienced firsthand. Where Australia trusts in individual opportunity within flexible systems, France creates elaborate structures designed to ensure fairness through rules and procedures. While this appeared logical at first, I gradually discovered its limitations.
Take something as fundamental as career mobility. The French system of grandes écoles, competitive civil service exams, and rigid professional hierarchies creates what sociologist Samuel Bowles calls "meritocratic reproduction", a system that appears fair but actually reinforces existing class structures. The rules are transparent and identical for everyone, but they favour those who already understand the cultural codes.
In practice, this means that a brilliant working-class French student might excel academically but struggle to navigate the unwritten social expectations of elite institutions. Meanwhile, their Australian counterpart benefits from a culture that actively celebrates having a go regardless of background.
Living in France, I witnessed how this structural approach, while well-intentioned, can stifle innovation and adaptability. The French labour market exemplifies this paradox: designed to protect workers through extensive regulations and benefits, it has instead created a dual economy where insiders are over-protected while outsiders (particularly young people, and immigrants) face persistent unemployment rates that would be politically unacceptable in Australia.
The French concept of "métier" reflects a culture where career paths are largely predetermined and lateral movement is difficult. This creates what economist Albert Hirschman called "voice without exit" meaning that people can complain about their circumstances but have limited ability to change them. The Australian fair go, by contrast, offers what Hirschman termed "exit with voice", both the freedom to change course and social support for doing so.
The Innovation Advantage and Cultural Adaptability
The most striking aspect of the Australian approach is its inherent adaptability. Rather than prescribing a single route to success, the fair go creates "optionality", not just multiple pathways forward, but a cultural environment that actively encourages people to explore them. It's this permission to pivot, to try again, to reinvent yourself professionally that distinguishes Australian society from more rigid alternatives. This explains why Australia, despite its smaller population, produces a disproportionate number of successful entrepreneurs and innovators per capita compared to France.
The French system excels at producing excellent engineers, administrators, and intellectuals but within predetermined frameworks. Australian culture, by contrast, seems to foster what I can only describe as innovative disruption, a willingness to challenge established ways of doing things and find entirely new solutions. I've noticed that Australians are remarkably comfortable with starting small and building something different, rather than trying to perfect existing systems.
The broader implications become clear when examining how each society responds to change. Australia's cultural flexibility has enabled it to adapt remarkably well to economic transitions without the social upheaval that has characterised similar transitions elsewhere. France's rigid structures, while providing stability, can become obstacles to necessary change. The persistent yellow vests protests, for example, reflected frustration with a system that promises fairness through rules but struggles to adapt those rules to changing economic realities.
The fair go has its roots in Australian sports culture, where results speak for themselves and performance matters more than pedigree. This meritocratic mindset has shaped Australian society more broadly, fostering an "achieved status orientation", judging people by what they've accomplished rather than where they come from. French culture operates quite differently, placing greater emphasis on formal credentials, institutional affiliations, and social background and unfortunately essentially prioritising "ascribed status" which can limit social mobility regardless of individual merit.
Modern Vindication and Democratic Resilience
Recent global challenges have highlighted the advantages of Australia's approach. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia's relatively decentralised, pragmatic response proved more effective than France's centralised, rule-based approach that struggled to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.
Similarly, Australia's immigration policy, while controversial, has created genuine pathways for newcomers to integrate and succeed. The fair go extends to new Australians who can genuinely have a go at building new lives. France's integration model, despite good intentions, often relegates immigrants to parallel societies with limited mobility.
Perhaps most importantly, the fair go creates stronger democratic resilience. When people believe the system genuinely offers them opportunities, they're less likely to support extremist alternatives. Australia's political stability, even amid economic challenges, contrasts markedly with the rise of populist movements in countries with more rigid social structures.
French democracy, while sophisticated, faces persistent challenges from both far-left and far-right movements that exploit frustrations with a system many perceive as closed to ordinary citizens.
Why Flexibility Matters More Than Ever
Understanding these cultural differences reveals why Australian leaders from both parties are expected to be approachable and to have come from somewhere, their backstory matters because it validates the fair go mythology, regardless of their political affiliation. French leaders are judged more on their systematic thinking and institutional credentials, reflecting different cultural values about authority and competence.
For Australian policy makers, this suggests the challenge isn't to create more rules but to ensure that existing opportunities remain genuinely accessible while maintaining the bipartisan consensus around core values. France's challenge is more fundamental: loosening structures enough to allow innovation and mobility while maintaining social protections.
What struck me most in comparing these systems is how cultural values shape not just individual opportunities but societal resilience. The Australian fair go, for all its imperfections, creates a society that can adapt, innovate, and include newcomers more effectively than more rigid alternatives.
This doesn't mean France lacks advantages; its cultural sophistication, intellectual rigour, and social protections offer valuable lessons. But for creating dynamic, inclusive societies that can thrive in an uncertain world, the Australian model of flexible opportunity over rigid equality offers a compelling alternative.
The fair go represents more than just a cultural quirk: it's a successful experiment in building societies that combine individual aspiration with collective support, creating both economic dynamism and social cohesion. In an era of rapid change, this flexibility isn't just culturally appealing. It's strategically essential. France's current crisis, where structural rigidity has made basic governance nearly impossible, perfectly illustrates how the Australian model of cultural adaptability over institutional rules provides genuine competitive advantages in our increasingly uncertain world.