Whilst the recent events are absolutely appealing, and Doctorow's central thesis is correct, there are a few things I feel the need to correct as an Australian:<p>Firstly, 'Australia is a politically unstable state whose governments routinely fail' is either a gross exaggeration or a misunderstanding.<p>No government has 'failed' in such a sense since 1975 --- a change of Prime Minister is not the same as an impeached President or a Parliament that falls apart. It is true we've had five PMs since 2013, but <i>the government</i> has only changed once. That is, Labor lost the election in 2013 to a legitimate alternative in the Coalition. Everything else is internal shenanigans --- neither policy nor implementation change measurably.<p>Secondly, 'The country's elites rely on voter suppression and other antimajoritarian tactics' is also a misreading of the political climate. 'voter suppression' doesn't really work in a nation with compulsory voting and a turnout of 92%.<p>I'm usually the first to point out that we have an issue with media concentration, particularly in regional areas with only one daily masthead, but the reality is much less stark than the one Doctorow paints here. Murdoch is Murdoch, not the China People's Daily. Tellingly, one of the journalists raided was a News Corp editor, and The Australian Newspaper is in as much of a flurry about these raids as anyone else.<p>EDIT: Sorry, I don't want to sound like a parochial whinger with a patriotic glass jaw, but this is a seriously important topic, and context is king.