ON 9 JUNE 2021, my teenage son and I were at the theatre of HOTA, Home of the Arts, on the Gold Coast with a couple of hundred new Aussies. Mayor Tom Tate was onstage and congratulated us in his distinct husky voice. He asked, ‘Who is from the UK?’ ‘Who is from South Africa?’ ‘Who is from China?’ The attendees reacted in subtly unique ways. The Brits replied in low, steady murmurs; the Koreans and Taiwanese were quiet; the Chinese were jaunty; and the Brazilians’ cheers were the loudest and most musical. 

‘Who is from Japan?’