Australia shows international leadership in global changes

Increasingly, developments that are happening globally are affecting Australia. Putting our heads in the sand and pretending that events like the financial crisis in Europe, the political situation in the USA, the developments in China and India, or climate change are all taking place outside Australia is counter-productive.

Fortunately, the majority of Australians are sufficiently well informed to look beyond this and even if we don't fully understand all the implications there is a clear understanding that we cannot run away from both the national and the international challenges that we, as a society, are facing.

Having said this, we believe that it is up to us to find a way around these global challenges at a local level – to try to develop our own strategies and work out our own way forward.

Looking back at the social and economic challenges that the human race has faced in the past it seems that change generally creates opportunity. Previous upheavals have generated much disruption, pain and suffering but every single time, from the prehistoric era on, civilisation has made progress – becoming more prosperous, more knowledgeable, and more able to manage the increasingly complex environments that we live in.

These times will be no different. Within the current context Australia is well positioned to participate positively in helping the world to become a better place – and in some instances we have been able to show leadership, especially in areas where we are relatively less affected by the turmoil.

As a middle economy it is also easier for us to show leadership, since we are not a political or economic threat to others. At the same time, over the last few decades Australia has shown more maturity in its international position and its role in the world. Being isolated geographically we have historically tended to be rather parochial in our international activities; but now, in an increasingly connected digital world, this is changing and we feel more comfortable and confident in taking up a position on many of the issues the world is facing.

Some of the bold initiatives that Australia has taken over the last few years are in general supported by its people. Look at the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, our leadership at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in 2009, the national broadband network and the carbon tax. We might squabble over the details, but citizens intuitively see all of these issues as important, visionary and of strategic importance to the country.

Australia and the UN Broadband Commissions

Today Australia's international leadership is evident in an area in which it has previously rarely featured – ICT.

While we have had, and still have, very innovative individual companies operating in this space government leadership has hardly ever played a part.

The vision of the NBN (linked to trans-sector policies in which the NBN is seen as utilities-based infrastructure that allows for affordable and innovative use of it for e-health, e-education, e-commerce, smart grids, digital media and so on) first attracted the interest of the Obama Administration and subsequently of the UN (the ITU and UNESCO). This led to the formation of the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development.

The 58 commissioners involved in this international body are among the world's top leaders in business, ICT, government and international organisations. They all accept the trans-sector concept that was first envisaged and implemented in Australia. The commission launched its targets to all the UN member companies, highlighting the perspective of access to high-speed broadband as a human right.

Australia continues to play a leadership role in this commission.

Leadership is of critical importance. We hear this in relation to all of the issues that are currently being discussed at the international summits and meetings. Leadership is what we expect from the people in charge of society and the economy, and we expect that they will also take the future into account. The policy initiatives mentioned above are good examples of leadership. They do not just address the current problems – they are also opening up opportunities in the emerging green and digital economies.

The Black Death and famine in the Middle Ages saw a decline of up to one-third of the population in Europe and forced communities to reorganise themselves, and this eventually led to new economic models, replacing serfdom.

The mini-Ice Age a few centuries later created severe social and economic problems, again forcing critical changes that, overall, had a positive effect on society.

When explorers opened up international trade with the introduction of shipping the land-based caravan trade declined, and many cities along these routes declined also. And the canals, railways, motorways, electricity and telecommunications all produced massive job losses in declining industries.

However hindsight shows that the net result has always been positive, with more new jobs in new industries, which in general created more opportunities and more interesting work. Why should it be any different in our time?

We are reaching the end of the post-WWII era of economic and social development. This period has been of great importance in getting us to where we are now. However the systems used during those years are now outgrowing their usefulness and we need to transform our society and economy based on the reality of things like the GFC, climate change, an ageing population, education requirements, peak oil and energy efficiency. This necessitates the kind of bold initiatives that the government is taking – and many more will be needed.

In several instances Australia is taking the proper steps and making the right investments to address both the challenges and the opportunities that these investments can deliver to us and future generations.

When it comes to implementation strategies, leeway can be allowed there for differing political positions. On a visionary and high strategic level, however, there is widespread national and international support for the direction Australia is taking – a direction that is also supported by the people of Australia.