“Impressive” isn’t usually a word used to describe speeches to the Australian Parliament. Descriptors like “straightforward”, “partisan”, and even “workmanlike” might be more appropriate for the state of things in Canberra.

It’s for this reason Canadian prime minister Mark Carney’s arrival this week lit the place up.

First in a fireside chat at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, and then on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Carney was erudite and persuasive. Dominating headlines from the World Economic Forum in January, he announced the time of death for the post-second world war rules-based order and urged middle powers to band together as the US and China throw their weight around.

The former central banker is impressive, but despite the buzz around his prescription for our uncertain times, Australia actually isn’t listening to what Carney has to say.

For all his stylish diplomacy, both Labor and the Coalition appear to be pretending the “rupture” Carney has identified has not happened at all.

“The world will always be shaped by great powers,” he told the chamber, packed at double capacity. “But it can also be shaped by middle powers that trust each other enough to act with speed and purpose.

“In a post-rupture world, the nations that are trusted and can work together will be quicker to the punch, more effective in their responses, more proactive in shaping outcomes, and ultimately more secure and prosperous.”

Clarifying one aspect of his viral Davos speech, Carney revealed at Lowy that he had flubbed one of his........

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