Since federation, the Australian government has had a definite role in the lives of its citizens. The role of the helping hand. An arbiter to ensure wages were enough to live in comfort. A safety net to protect those who fell between the cracks. It served, in the greatest tradition of liberal and social values, as a tool for the Australian people to use to maintain their quality of life.

It was far from perfect - the White Australia policy, the abhorent treatment of the indigenous population, the persecution of Communists and the second-rate treatment given to women were grievous injustices - but its role in most people’s lives was a positive one. You might not always agree with your government, but you could rely on it to keep you out of the worst of the worst.

These past few weeks, I can’t help but contemplate the new role the government has taken. The guarantees of a comfortable and secure lifestyle went long ago, before I was alive to enjoy them. With its proposed IR reforms, the current government seems intent on taking away those protections it still offered after all this time. And it is revamping its image in other ways, too.

The anti-terror laws implemented over the past five years, and those currently being debated, seem to send a clear message to the Australian people - “We don’t think we owe you your freedom. We don’t think we owe you anything. We are large and in charge.”

The media is full of talk of secret police investigations, images of raids on homes, of gunfights, of people shot, speculation of indefinite detainment and control of communications. Politicians are boasting unprecedented co-operation with police forces and voices of opposition are being met with gag orders. ASIO’s recruitment drive is popping up everywhere - have you considered a job as a domestic spy?

I don’t want for anyone in Australia to be hurt or killed. I would hate for that to happen. But, although I am a peaceful citizen with ordinarily no reason to worry, I have become scared of my government. In fear of crime - violent, international crime but crime nonetheless - we have lost our greatest national asset, greater than any amount of interesting fauna and beautiful scenery. We have lost having a government we can trust and rely upon. And if anything in the world could be called unAustralian, that is it.