Australia is the greatest country on Earth.
In the decisive decade stretching ahead of us, we have what it takes to make Australia even greater still: stronger, fairer and more prosperous. We can achieve this by working to shape the future, not waiting for the future to shape us. Standing our own two feet, secure in the world and safe at home. Shaping that better future requires strategy, purpose, and values.
Australians are future shapers. It’s a national character trait. We have the unique privilege of sharing this island continent with the world’s oldest continuous culture. We invent things. We innovate. Australians work hard, and dream big. We aspire to secure a better life for ourselves and the people we love.
A central part of our national identity was forged in distance. Geographic isolation made us more resilient and more resourceful. Yet where we once imagined ourselves cut-off from the markets and wealth on the other side of the globe, we now stand on the threshold of the fastest growing region of the world in human history. We used to lament ‘the tyranny of distance’, we now embrace the opportunity of proximity.
Australians know there is a world of opportunity out there, and they know the world won’t wait for us. The task of government is to be aspirational – to anticipate what lies ahead, and work to advance our national interest.
At the heart of Australian aspiration is the determination every parent has for their child to enjoy a life of greater opportunity. I’ve never forgotten the sacrifices my Mum made for me or the part that good government played in our lives: helping us know the security of a roof over our head, providing the transformative opportunity of a good education.
We live in complex times. The pace of change gets faster. There are global shocks – the biggest international energy crisis in 50 years. Australians have endured a once-in-a-century pandemic. The world is grappling with the reality of climate change. The geopolitical situation is the most fraught it has been since the end of the Cold War.
Technology is reshaping how we work, how we see ourselves, and how we connect. Misinformation can overwhelm truth, and the forces of polarisation sometimes feel stronger than the power of persuasion. Democracy – the beating heart of our way of life – faces challenges both old and new. I’ve always believed that the strongest antidote to the corrosive forces of cynicism and division and the most compelling argument in favour of democracy, is not an abstract or a theoretical one. It’s governing with purpose. Demonstrating the capacity of government to improve lives.
We possess all the resources we need to make Australia stronger, fairer and more prosperous. We live in the fastest growing region of the world in human history. We have extraordinary natural assets and attributes, including the resilience and skill of our people. Our diversity and social cohesion is a national treasure and an international asset.
Australia is on the road to becoming a renewable energy superpower. Australian research helped invent the modern solar panel. We inhabit the sunniest continent on Earth. We are home to every metal and critical mineral essential to net zero and among the world's largest suppliers of lithium, cobalt and rare earths. Regions that have powered our country for more than a century will continue to power Australia in our clean energy future, because my Government will be a partner in the transformation of the Australian economy.
The balance of risks and opportunities demands that the role of government evolve. We can’t be captured by redundant orthodoxies, or stale, think-tank platitudes. Government needs to be more strategic, more sophisticated and a more constructive contributor, and we need sharper elbows when it comes to pursuing our national interest. This is not about old protectionism. It’s the new competition.
Our allies and partners around the world are all grappling with the same imperatives. The heavy lifting of economic transition and industrial transformation is not being done by individuals, companies or communities on their own. The transformation is being facilitated by national governments from every point on the political spectrum, in partnership with private capital seeking opportunity in the net zero world.
Major economies, including Australia, are not walking away from the free market, or abandoning global trade. More than one in four Australian jobs relies on trade. But the once widespread consensus that globalisation would usher in uninterrupted peace and prosperity has fractured in the face of reality. Not everyone shared in the benefits. And not everyone played by the rules.
One of the enduring lessons of the Covid pandemic was that the end of a global supply chain is a lonely place to be. Nations around the world are seeking new models for their future growth; investing in strategic sovereign capability, while seeking secure supply chains. My Government wants to reinvigorate Australia’s industrial base to create wealth and opportunity. We need an economy that drives and distributes growth, because higher wages and secure jobs deliver a social licence for reform.
There is a link between economic security and national security. As well as securing capability at home, we are strengthening Australia’s place in the world. We are investing in deterrence and diplomacy, forging critical trade and investment partnerships in the region. We are stabilising our relationship with China, our largest trading partner, without compromising any of Australia’s core interests or values. The AUKUS partnership represents a step-change in Australia’s defence capability. Just as Curtin and Chifley turned their vision of an automotive industry into a reality that revitalised Australian manufacturing, AUKUS will catalyse domestic innovation, research and investment.
Australians also need to feel secure in their daily lives. We need to close the gender pay gap to give women economic security. Parents need quality, affordable childcare to balance their work and caring responsibilities. Early education puts pre-schoolers on the road to success in school, technical education and Australia’s universities. Australia’s world leading superannuation system – a remarkable Labor legacy – allows people to plan for a secure retirement.
In 1974, Gough Whitlam shared his vision to mark The Australian’s tenth anniversary. His observations from 50 years ago remain pertinent today. Looking at the world, Whitlam noted traditional forms of democratic government were under challenge. People were becoming more aware of environmental hazards. Pollution was rising, and so was inflation. There was a rising tendency towards alienation and job dissatisfaction in industrial societies, as well as a growing recourse to violence as a political weapon.
Whitlam said he remained an optimist, although a rather anxious one. He retained the humanist’s belief in progress, in Australia’s capacity to meet the demands and seize the opportunities of the future.
So do I.
I’ve always been an optimist about Australia’s future and I’ve never been more optimistic about what our people and nation can achieve than I am today. We stand at the dawn of what can and should be Australia’s decade. The opportunities before us are unparalleled. I know we can seize them.
Sixty years after Rupert Murdoch had the audacity of launching The Australian – a newspaper that was as much about shaping a national voice and identity as it was about a commercial venture - now is the time for big, bold ideas that will shape Australia’s future.
We stand at the dawn of what can and should be Australia’s decade. The opportunities before us are unparalleled.
It’s up to us to seize them.