A country that has stopped thinking
Prosperity has brought security but also a lack of vision and an absence of courage, write Steve Burrell and staff reporters.
Relaxed and comfortable. Or just timid and slow on the uptake? Anaesthetised by the Lucky Country prosperity of a once-in-50-year global resources boom, with leaders who have become frightened to lead, obsessed with cost but often blind to opportunity, Australia is being left behind on things that matter for the future.
Whether it's improving broadband speed and access or grasping the huge business opportunities thrown up by the climate-change challenge, we go around in circles - or backwards - as the best of the world moves ahead. The same can be said for capitalising on our innovation, scientific research and development, building world-class infrastructure and improving education, medical services, transport and urban design.
We have good ideas, world-class ideas, but too often our best and brightest have to go somewhere else to pursue them. The problem goes deep, with many of its roots in the way we are governed and, perhaps, in the nature of our national character. ... more
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