Andrew Low has enjoyed a career at the top of Australia’s corporate world, having held roles at Macquarie Bank and RedBridge Grant Samuel, and CITIC securities. He has lived and worked across the globe. He is an economist and author, and although definitely not a trade unionist, his writing includes a wide scope of the economy; his bird’s eye view of Australia’s economy is put to good use in his analysis.

We Should Be So Lucky is an optimistic study of Australia’s economic resilience, social cohesion, and political stability, arguing that the country’s unique blend of policies and cultural attitudes has allowed it to thrive in an era of global uncertainty. Drawing on historical trends, comparative politics, and economic data, Low makes a case for Australia as a model for balanced governance.

Mr Low argues that Australia’s success is built on foundations laid in the 1980s and 90s with bipartisan economic reforms such as floating the dollar, deregulation and superannuation. He credits Australian voters’ rejection of both hardline Thatcherism and European-style social democracy in favour of a ‘third way’, that prioritises continuous, incremental improvement.

The Pillars of Prosperity are what Low argues are key to Australia’s economic success.

The Economic Pillar: the APRA-led banking regulation that saved Australia the worst of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the success of the Superannuation Guarantee in creating capital, and the management of the China-driven resources boom.

The Social Pillar: discussion of multiculturalism, which Low frames not as a policy but as a lived reality that has become a source of economic and social strength. He also examines the ‘fair go’ ethos as a driver of public support for welfare systems like Medicare and a liveable minimum wage.

The Governance Pillar: perhaps the most original section, where Low contrasts Australia’s compulsory voting and preference system, which forces major parties to compete for the moderate centre, compared to the political polarisation of the US and UK.

In discussing Australia’s vulnerability, Low avoids triumphalism. This section is a clear-eyed assessment of Australia’s Achilles’ heels: its vulnerability to climate change (bushfires, droughts), ongoing challenges with Indigenous reconciliation, housing affordability, and economic over-reliance on China. His argument is that the ‘Australian Way’ is not perfect but is uniquely equipped to adapt to these challenges.

Low’s book also acts as a rethink of author and journalist Donald Horne’s The Lucky Country, published in 1964. Horne’s work criticised Australia’s complacency and mediocrity, arguing that the nation’s prosperity was largely due to luck rather than the quality of its leadership and society.

Low’s approach is a much more positive view of this luck. He does not shy away from Australia’s flaws, but makes an evidence-based case that Australia’s system of pragmatic governance and social moderation is worth studying.

There is limited discussion on inequality or neoliberalism. It assumes capitalism is the natural order of things, and climate change, and those left behind on the fringes are inevitable in a successful society. We Should Be So Lucky does not offer any real answers to what is inevitably going to happen when our luck runs out.