Subject here
And now back to the big picture… nation building after the GFC
The beguiling lure of the distant “vision on the hill” has seen many a traveller crash and burn along the road, laid low by unforeseen circumstances at their feet, while mesmerised by the vision of a bright shining future. The mother of all unforeseen circumstances, the global financial crisis, has seen many fellow travellers sustain a few injuries, whereas Australia has slipped through with just a bit of a stumble and a wobble. Indeed still the lucky country. Australia’s economy has performed better than the economies of most developed nations over the past 12 months. A report by global ratings agency Standard and Poor recognised the Australian economy’s resistance to recession, saying, “Australia has been the best performing developed economy in the world in recent years.” Australia was one of only three of the 33 IMF advanced economies that recorded growth in the year to September 2009. With the global dust storm settling, the big vision for Australia’s future may be getting a little clearer and perhaps looking a little different. In a world of rapidly shifting geopolitical realities, visionary nation building is now more needed than ever. We’ve done it before and it’s time to do it again. At the time of Federation, the most expensive capital works project in the new Commonwealth of Australia was to cost the nation more than 21 million pounds. The criticism from diverse quarters was unrelenting: it would never work, it would bankrupt the treasury, there would be corruption.
By Dan Stojanovich
46
futurebuilding
EDITION 1