Ideas the engine of new growth

There is nothing more powerful, it seems, than the power of a good idea created by a vivid imagination. In this 21st century battle of ideas, those communities best able to generate, attract and retain pools of creative talent will be the most prosperous. And they will be the most open and tolerant.

In this modern contest, good social policy becomes good economic policy. The campuses of our preschools, schools, colleges and universities are the places where the economy meets society.

As Australia navigates through the global financial crisis, investing in infrastructure such as roads, rail, ports and telecommunications can provide a valuable economic stimulus and a boost to stalled productivity growth.

But the greatest long-term investment Australia can make is an investment in our young people, in the freeways, thoroughfares and avenues of their minds. By supporting early childhood development to help wire the brains of infants, nurturing their imaginations through school and encouraging them on to our universities, Australian parents and governments can secure our future as a prosperous, fair, tolerant and compassionate country.

The Rudd Government is making that investment, through an $11 billion Education Investment Fund, more than $1.2 billion for computers in schools and $2.4 billion for early childhood education and care. And for the first time, through the Council of Australian Governments, the commonwealth and the states are working on a truly national education reform agenda.

What a great and noble cause: fashioning an imaginative, creative Australia. Through the Government's education revolution, it can be the defining achievement of our times.