Imagine a country of about 25 million people, democratically tolerant, welcoming to immigrants, socially harmonious, politically stable and economically successful with a plus of beautiful beaches. Could be California 50 years ago, but it is not, nor is it the Australia of today. Yet Australia could become a paradise and perhaps an even more successful version of the Golden State.
It already has a successful economy, which unlike California has avoided a recession since 1991, and a political system that generally serves it well. It is benefiting from a resources bonanza that brings in huge quantities of money for doing no more than scraping up minerals and shipping them to Asia. It is a pleasant rich country to live in, or so the OECD tells us. And, since Asia’s appetite for iron ore, coal, natural gas and our land and everything in between shows no signs of abating, the bonanza seems set to continue for a while. Yes Australia is riding high. However the country’s economic success owes more to recent windfalls than to policies applied by our Government. Textbook economics and sound management have been put aside with absolutely no insight to the future.
Australians have to decide what sort of country they want their children to live in. They can enjoy their prosperity today and keep squandering what they do not consume. Or they can actively set about creating the sort of society that other nations will envy and want to emulate. California, may hold some lessons. Its history also included a gold rush, an energy boom and the development of a thriving farm sector. It went on to reap the economic benefits of an excellent higher-education system and the industries it spawned. If Australia is to succeed, it too will have to unlock the full potential of its citizens, its resources. But instead it is all being sold of, and the talent it has, relocating to other shores!