It was great! At home we had semi-automatic washing machines, and laundry dryers and ovens with timers on them. Some people had central heating with thermostats, too.

And there were automatic lifts (elevators, for US-ians) in office buildings and department stores--just press the button to go to your floor. Amazing!

Can you elaborate on this?

In the late 60s there was very little automation in Australia. Assembly lines were exactly that, with humans all the way. Pretty much there had been little or no change in manufacturing since the 30s or 40s.

So a few years later when many protective tariffs were removed, most manufacturing in Australia withered away very quickly. Today Australia is an economy with just two branches: primary industry and the FIRE sectors.

There is very little 'value add' industry. Which is silly as there is abundant iron ore and coal so the steel industry should be overwhelming the world. Instead, both those commodities go to China where they make the more profitable steel.

Thank you!