Simply The Best?

INTERESTING article in today's Sydney Morning Herald about Australia and how it's viewed in the USA. In it, Peter Hartcher makes mention of four encounters he had regarding Australia around the time of the presidential election.
For those with time or motivation-related issues, the general gist of the article is that the Hawke, Keating, Howard and Rudd governments (from 1983 to the present day) have all contributed to Australia having a high standing in the world today. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright describes our electoral system as "the leading model"; a Wall Street Journal columnist asks not what an Obama government means for Australia, but rather what a Rudd government means for the US; a leading economist suggests Australia could actually avoid recession in the next few years; while a leading US banker suggested his country could take lessons from Australia in how to deal with the crisis.
Three of these deal with Australia from an economic standpoint - clearly not my area of expertise! But is Australia really at the top?
Nay-sayers certainly have plenty to point out. Indigenous health and educations standards are still well below the rest of the population; environmental issues (including the declining state of the Murray-Darling basin and the future of the Great Barrier Reef) require long-term planning; while there are those that say that Australia's three tiers of government (federal, state and local for those playing at home) means large amounts of red tape stifling growth.
Of course, anyone concerned about the last should probably check out red tape in the European Union. The words "you're kidding" often spring to mind...
But then, no country is without its own issues. Iceland's economy just went into free-fall; other Scandanavian countries can be prohibitively expensive; while close cousins New Zealand have to work to rectify a brain-drain to countries such as Australia, the UK and the USA.
After spending time overseas, I can say it's a relief not to worry about putting bags down for a second or things in pockets, never to be seen again. The general friendliness of Australians is also a blessed relief after the surliness of your average Londoner.
So yeah, I would say we're up there: but as Hartcher said towards the end of his article, this is no time for complacency.