Australia is in transition. Saying it is easy. The panic kicks in when
we are compelled to describe what the future might look like. There is
no complacent middle to aim at. We will either catch the next wave of
prosperity, or finally succumb to the Great Recession.
In this urgent essay, George Megalogenis argues that Australia risks
becoming globalisation's next and most unnecessary victim. The next
shock, whenever it comes, will find us with our economic guard down, and
a political system that has shredded its authority. Megalogenis outlines
the challenge for Malcolm Turnbull and his government. Our tax system is
unfair and we have failed to invest in infrastructure and education.
Both sides of politics are clinging defensively to an old model because
it tells them a reassuring story of Australian success. But that model
has been exhausted by capitalism's extended crisis and the end of the
mining boom. Trusting to the market has left us with gridlocked cities,
growing inequality and a corporate sector that feels no obligation to
pay tax. It is time to redraw the line between market and state.
Balancing Act is a passionate look at the politics of change and
renewal, and a bold call for active government.
It took World War II to provide the energy and focus for the
reconstruction that laid the foundation for modern Australia.Will it
take another crisis to prompt a new reconstruction? George Megalogenis
has thirty years' experience in the media, including over a decade in
the federal parliamentary press gallery. His book The Australian Moment
won the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award for non-fiction and the
2012 Walkley Award for non-fiction, and formed the basis for the ABC
documentary series Making Australia Great.
His most recent book is Australia's Second Chance and he is also
author of Faultlines, The Longest Decade and a previous best-selling
Quarterly Essay, Trivial Pursuit: Leadership and The End of the
Reform Era.
