2012 will be a critical time in our development as a nation with huge uncertainties in many areas both in Australia and globally.
Over more than ten years we have lived through a remarkable mining boom, giving us a huge opportunity to enhance national wealth, but not forcing hard decisions of the kind which led to the great reforms of the Hawke-Keating years.
These had bipartisan support from an opposition also committed to major economic and social reform. Sadly there is no sense of such common purpose in Canberra today despite so many uncertainties in the world, including big changes with the rise of China, India and Indonesia, let alone many other uncertainties in the environment in which we must function as a nation.
Short term view no long term strategy
The boom allowed us to weather the Asian economic crisis of 1997 and to withstand the potentially dire consequences of the Global Financial Crisis. We are now, very properly, trying to get our national accounts back in order after heavy expenditure to avoid a profound recession in 2008-2010 – a crisis which is still causing huge problems in Europe, the US and elsewhere.
When we ask ourselves where we need to go as a nation over the next ten to 20 years, our national political leaders on either side of politics seem either to be short of ideas, or too preoccupied with the short-term, with opinion polls, focus groups or immediate issues of political advantage. We badly need appropriate leadership from both sides of the political arena if, as a nation, we are to make the necessary moves to secure our long-term future in a fast changing world.
Over more than ten years we have lived through a remarkable mining boom, giving us a huge opportunity to enhance national wealth, but not forcing hard decisions of the kind which led to the great reforms of the Hawke-Keating years.
These had bipartisan support from an opposition also committed to major economic and social reform. Sadly there is no sense of such common purpose in Canberra today despite so many uncertainties in the world, including big changes with the rise of China, India and Indonesia, let alone many other uncertainties in the environment in which we must function as a nation.
Short term view no long term strategy
The boom allowed us to weather the Asian economic crisis of 1997 and to withstand the potentially dire consequences of the Global Financial Crisis. We are now, very properly, trying to get our national accounts back in order after heavy expenditure to avoid a profound recession in 2008-2010 – a crisis which is still causing huge problems in Europe, the US and elsewhere.
When we ask ourselves where we need to go as a nation over the next ten to 20 years, our national political leaders on either side of politics seem either to be short of ideas, or too preoccupied with the short-term, with opinion polls, focus groups or immediate issues of political advantage. We badly need appropriate leadership from both sides of the political arena if, as a nation, we are to make the necessary moves to secure our long-term future in a fast changing world.
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