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James van Smeerdijk

Biography:

Currently CEO of the Allen Consulting Group with special interests in public sector strategy and infrastructure reform. Early career in the Victorian Public Service across a range of Departments, his last position was in Treasury working on electricity and gas reform. Married with two children. Loves reading about history and visiting wilderness.

Statement:

Winston Churchill described democracy as the "worst form of government... except for all the others that have been tried." I think of Australia in a similar way- Australia has many problems... but I wouldn't swap them for the problems of any other country.

We have an aging population, but nothing close to the kind of challenges faced by countries such as China or Italy. Our population is relatively young by developed economy standards. Our welfare system is targeted. We have only to open our immigration doors a little wider to attract the young and talented.

We have a fragile environment with depleted soils, salination and limited water resources. Greenhouse will probably make this worse. However, we are beginning tackle these problems and have a better capacity to do so than most countries. We have some of the largest and best managed wilderness areas in the world. We have a unique environment that provides huge enjoyment to locals and visitors alike.

We have some seemingly intractable issues constraining our indigenous communities, but we have some courageous people tackling them, and the goodwill of most Australians to back them.

We have relied heavily in the past on our large agricultural and resources sectors in an environment of falling commodity prices and exclusive trading blocks. However, the rise of China has led to a boom that looks sustainable for some decades. These sectors give us a unique economic diversification among developed economies.

We have long been concerned that our small advanced manufacturing base is only tenuously connected to distant markets. However, in our isolation we often work out innovative solutions, while at the same time globalisation is relentlessly bringing the world closer.

We worry about a brain drain, but most of Australia's diaspora return with enhanced skills and experience. We actually have a net 'brain gain' due to skilled immigration.

We are seen as outsiders by our neighbours in Asia, yet Australia is growing closer to Asia every year. This century is the Asian century and Australia is well placed not just to be Asia's resources supplier but to be a major knowledge capital supplier as well.

We face a growing gap between rich and poor, yet the position of the poor by most measures is still improving. Even with the best endeavours to assist at the bottom, this trend is likely to continue. This may lead to social tensions which will need careful management because of our desirable egalitarian culture.

We worry about a declining community spirit. However, volunteerism remains stronger in Australia than in almost any other country. We only have to think of new institutions and better ways of harnessing Australia's natural community spirit.

Cutting across all these issues, Australia has perhaps its most powerful advantage - one of the best systems of government and public administration in the world. Despite popular perceptions, Australia consistently rates in the top half dozen countries in the world on measures of the quality of its government.

Is Australian Government perfect? By no means. Government is inherently difficult, but the important thing is that Australian government has a good track record in managing change.

Does this mean that we can rely just on government to solve all our problems? Certainly not. A good government knows what it can and cannot do, and when it needs to harness the community and the private sector.

I am an optimist regarding Australia over the next few decades- but on any analysis, Australians have a lot to be optimistic about.