The APS prepares policy transition books for an incoming federal government. The Grattan Institute has prepared one, too. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
While the imminent federal election will be held at a time of rising international unrest, Australia could ride a new wave of prosperity if whoever is in power faces specific domestic policy challenges front on, according to the Grattan Institute.
The think tank has released their pre-election Orange Book, which sets out a blueprint for embracing policies to boost living standards into the future.
The Orange Book references the Australian Public Service’s so-called red and blue books to give an incoming government, with the stripe of the winning party deciding which book is delivered (red for Labor and blue for the Coalition).
The Grattan Institute’s book is labelled with its signature colour orange, and it is meant to apply to whichever party wins office, even if the result is a hung parliament and minority government.
Five policy challenges the institute says Australia’s next government must confront are: transitioning to net zero; tackling the housing crisis; deepening talent pools; meeting the needs of an ageing population; and fixing the structural budget problem.
“None of these challenges is new, and in each case we have already made a start – but the clock is ticking,” the institute’s chief executive officer Aruna Sathanapally said.
“To go the next mile, Australia needs to get from constrained workforce participation to maximising talent; from rooftop solar subsidies to industrial renewables, storage, and power grid infrastructure; from regulation that stifles housing supply to rules that make building homes easier; from a hospital-focused health system to a focus on primary care and prevention; from too many students falling behind in literacy and numeracy to high-quality teaching that raises achievement in every classroom; from unsustainable NDIS growth to a more efficient system that delivers the life-changing support disabled Australians need.”
The report states that Australia could be on the cusp of a new wave of prosperity, provided political leaders confront these five long-standing domestic policy challenges.
It is based on research and analysis published by the institute since it was founded 16 years ago. It has chapters on economic growth and budgets; the net-zero economy; energy; housing; health; school education; the NDIS; retirement incomes; and integrity in government.
“This election is being held at a time of great uncertainty,” the report states.
“The international rules-based order is under siege, and the world is more unstable than it has been in decades.
“The impacts of climate change are showing themselves.
“Many Australians, having only recently emerged from a global pandemic, have faced significant financial pressures from rising living costs.
“But Australia has successfully navigated the crises of recent years while avoiding mass job losses and bankruptcies.
“With inflation having fallen, it is our long-standing challenges that await … These are challenges we share with many other countries – and Australia is better placed than most to meet them.”
The report’s full title is Orange Book 2025: Policy priorities for the federal government, and it sets out a pathway, it says, will help governments to boost the living standards of current and future generations.
It calls on whoever wins the election to stay the course on many necessary but difficult reforms, and tackle others that have been in the too-hard basket for too long.
The book stresses the need to “bend the curve on carbon emissions” and focus on the economic transformation that accompanies decarbonisation.
To boost supply, it says, the government must relax planning constraints, and support mobility.
Deepening the talent pool begins with improving school systems, early childhood education, skilled migration and delivery of human services.
The book also says Australia needs to get better at tackling chronic disease, and shore up sustainable retirement and aged-care systems.
And it should introduce bold tax reforms, “implement sensible savings”, make hospitals more efficient, and “rein in NDIS costs” to make the scheme sustainable.
“If governments over the next decade were to tackle a reasonable number of the reforms we recommend in the Orange Book, it would transform the lives of Australians, with higher incomes, less poverty, better-quality and more efficiently delivered services, a cleaner environment, and a stronger democracy,” Dr Sathanapally said.
“Even in these turbulent times, a better Australia beckons.”
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Riotact.
