in the digital rights and government spying department --- maybe VS china or Nkorea but in the "west" we are profanely the worst. easily.

Don't worry, the rest of the west is doing its best to catch up with you.

You're asserting AU TLA's are outperforming the UK's GCHQ et al., the US's NSA and friends, the private company Palantir, Isreal's Unit 8200, etc?

Might want to wind back that Aussie Exceptionalism a notch or three. That or read up a little more.

The thing that Australians don't realize is that like nobody cares that much about Australia. You are on that side of the world, pretty isolated as far as politics go.

Take the minor losses, be glad that conservative party didn't win, and watch the shitstorm in US and Europe from afar.