The latest in this great series – Quarterly Essay – by George Megalogenis on Balancing Act: Australia between recession and renewal – hits all the buttons and makes the case for urgent action on how the country is being run – or more to the point how bad our governments have been for at least the last decade on so many things that effect the long term viable of the place.
While George joins all the dots as to how so many things have not been done, promised and then not followed through, or totally ignored, he remains optimistic that there is still a chance to turn things around.
The sad thing is that he, like so many people, knows that the current lot, all sides of politics, are just not to be trusted.
Here’s words from the publisher:
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?
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Here’s a review – click here. These essays make for a one sitting read – or the equivalent – and the follow letters at the back are a wonderful range of reactions to the former essay.
Recommended: 10/10
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Paul Costigan