While our government dithers about, there are many forums and conferences and discussions going on around the country with constructive ideas for a better Australia.
We all know the problems we face. Somehow we must drag our politicians to the solutions.
Here are a few suggestions.
Build high speed rail
This would provide ongoing employment in its construction, operation and maintenance. It would allow for decentralisation thus helping with housing affordability and bringing a much needed boost to regional areas. It would free up the roads and other railways from congestion helping both with peak hour traffic and freight movement as well as relieving the burden at airports. It would help reduce emissions from cars and planes and be a market for our excess iron and coal (which should be provided at cost price as a form of resource tax).
The estimated cost of constructing the preferred HSR alignment in its entirety would be around $114 billion (in 2012 dollars) which sounds like a lot of money until you realise it is what we hand out in ONE YEAR in tax concessions (estimated to grow to $150 billion per year in 2 years.)
Build a real NBN
World economies are changing. Automation will see the loss of many more jobs in the near future.
The NBN holds out the promise of a new age of productivity, innovation and global connection for Australians. It will provide health care, education, telecommuting opportunities, carbon-free conferencing and will shrink the distances between services in Australia. It will also provide employment in its construction and maintenance.
KPMG estimates that cloud computing over the NBN could increase the size of the Australian economy by $3.32 billion per annum within a decade.
Deloitte Access Economics estimated that the direct contribution of the internet to the Australian economy was approximately $50 billion a year, projected to grow to over $70 billion a year by 2016.
Access Economics says if 10 percent of Australian employees were to telework every second day, total annual productivity gains would be in the order of $1.4 billion to $1.9 billion per year by reducing commute times, office space and staff turnover.
It is estimated that if we could help 5% of elderly people remain in their homes for one year longer before going into care that we could save $60 billion over the next ten years.
The possibilities for productivity and social benefits are endless.
Increase Newstart by $50 a week
More than a million Australians are living in poverty. This has enormous impacts on health, education and well-being as well as productivity. Poverty can also be a contributing factor in domestic violence and substance abuse.
Increasing the weekly Newstart, Austudy, Abstudy and Youth Allowance rates for singles by $50 a week, and indexing them in the same way as the age pension, has been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office at about $2 billion a year.
The Business Council of Australia chief executive, Jennifer Westacott said that ”entrenching people into poverty by expecting them to live on $35 a day is not a pathway back into employment”. It is hard to go to interviews if you don’t have an address or money for clothes and transport. It’s hard to study if you don’t have food.
Not only would the increased payment help alleviate poverty, it would also increase demand thus creating more jobs.
Reinstate the Commonwealth Employment Service
It is obvious that the Job Network is costing us a fortune for little result and is being rorted by unscrupulous private providers.
We should reinstate the CES and it should be run by a board comprised of representatives from business, unions, the education department, and welfare groups.
Shortages of skilled workers should be anticipated and appropriate training to fill the gap incentivised. Scholarships which help with fees, or cadetships and apprenticeships that combine study with work experience, could be offered in needed occupations.
Unemployed people should have individual case workers who have discretionary powers to tailor appropriate individual assistance. Work experience at trainee rates should be offered but voluntary. I certainly don’t want someone who isn’t suited to it looking after my mother at her nursing home.
Businesses could be provided with a free employment service and employees would receive relevant workplace entitlements which they do not get when working through an employment agency.
The CES should also provide referral services for people who are really struggling to counsellors and mental health practitioners that can help them find a way forward. This might help avoid domestic violence and suicide for those who are not coping.
Invest in research
Ongoing research is a crucial investment in our future. Our scientists and researchers are our problem solvers, our warning system, our job creators, and the guardians of our health and environment.
Of the many short-sighted, ideological decisions by this government, their abandonment of research is the worst.
There is no future under an Abbott government.
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