April 2024
The Hon. Jeff Kennett AC
Navigating the Future – Australia’s Challenges and Change
Well, we are a third into 2024.
Nothing has changed much since the end of last year.
The international outlook is fractious with conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
Millions of people are leaving their homelands in pursuit of greater opportunities in other countries, putting great pressure on those countries receiving those populations.
Here in Australia, we continue to exist in a complacent manner, as we invest in military weaponry we will not receive for years, at inflated costs, and will probably be obsolete before it arrives.
We are losing control of our food production to the point that we will have to increasingly rely on food imports, when we should have been not only self-sufficient in food but exporting to countries to our north.
Victoria is heading to the debtor’s prison because of the debt that the State government has run up through gross mismanagement.
All of that said we are lucky we live so far away from the rest of the world.
But our cost structures are out of control, and we have become an increasingly mendicant country where we are relying on other countries and their work forces to supply so much of what we require to live our lives.
Our immigration rate is running at a faster rate than our capacity to absorb those new arrivals, which is putting pressure on our young wanting to buy homes or rent accommodation.
All in all, 2024/5/6 will be challenging years for all of us.
Cost of living, staff shortages and the separation of city and most large regional cities from the rest of the country. Smaller will remain for many more beautiful, but access to quality services such as doctors, transport and even passage on roads in good condition will affect the lives of those who live on farms or chose to live well away from the maddening crowds.
For Municipal Councils the challenges will remain. Access to qualified staff, controlling costs, while trying to satisfy their ratepayers.
The answer to the latter is regular and transparent communications, which explain why actions are being taken, in advance of those decisions being implemented.
That said waking up in the morning is the greatest gift we all receive. The rest is but a challenge.
Does the country, the States, Councils have the leadership to see us through these times to a better place? Time will tell, but we all have a role to play.
At CT Management Group we are launching our sustainable council program to assist Councils meet their financial sustainability challenges.
For now, stay well, fit and happy, and onwards and upwards.
The Hon Jeff Kennett AC
Chairman
CT Management Group