Australians have never been richer, or more complacent. Yet despite the good times fault lines are emerging. The growing wealth of the past decade has not reached everyone. Pockets of entrenched disadvantage remain, even in the richest neighbourhoods. Race, religion, education, health and ethnicity mark the new divides. David Burchell throws the spot light on the underlying causes of the riots that shocked Sydney. He reveals a pattern of marginalisation shaped by history, flawed policy and personal incapacity and finds hope in the remarkable resilience of people under enormous pressure. A challenge echoed in the reports from around the country. This issue provides an intimate portrait of the usually invisible fractures of boom time Australia, with outstanding essays, reportage, memoir, poetry and fiction. Other writers include- Peter Meredith, Lucy Lehmann, Jago Dodson, Neil Sipe, Meera Atkinson, Charlie Stansfield, Julienne van Loon, Phil Brown, Dominique Wilson, David Peetz, Tracy Crisp, Natasha Cica, Dorothy Johnston, Shane Strange, Geoffrey Brahm Levey, Robert Hillman, Joanna Kujawa, Lee Kofman, Randa Abfel-Fattah, Anna Haebich, Anita Heiss and Kim Mahood. Photo essay, 'Vietnam Veterans' by David Nielsen, with poetry by Anna Krien.