Functionally in Australia the government can pretend the citizens have rights when it makes sense to them however the reality is we have (a) one of the most empowered tax agencies on the planet (b) no right to leave the country right now without seeking special permission; a fact barely debated in the increasingly useless local media and possibly unique within the modern western world (c) no constitutional bill of rights (d) no capacity to complain when actual firms reject to sell spare parts to consumers (e) very few independently importing retailers (f) heaps of state surveillance.[0] (g) a national identity myth still drummed in to children based on the simultaneous execution of one of the only successful cases of genocide (the Tasmanian aboriginals) and repeatedly invading other countries (and being drafted to do so) for proxy ideological reasons<p>Case in point: I had a prosumer grade Nikon fail on me ~2011 and it was just the button. The company refused to sell me the part and instead insisted that I send it to an authorized repair center of which there was only one within the country at the time, in Adelaide (that's Aussie for Arkinsaw). They wanted something like USD$300+ (50% value) to replace it. Wrote a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and nothing happened. I don't think I got more than a form reply. In response I doubled down on Canon.<p>[0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_Australia" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_Australia</a>