It seems just a fairly neutral comment on "progress"; from the written word, the reader must make up his or her own mind whether progress is a step forward or two steps back...

In another Aussie song, Across the Western Suburbs, written by Seamus Gill and Denis Kevans, there is this verse:

What's happened to the pub, our little local pub
Where we used to have a drink when we were dry, boys
Now we can't get in the door for there's carpet on the floor
And you won't be served a beer without a tie, boys.

Fairly innocuous in reading from the page, but most live renditions I've heard contain a fair bit of venom.

Regretably, I've never heard Slim perform "Sequal" live, so hard to guage Slim's real opinion on the matter.

Delivery is everything (and I don't just mean the beer!)