2020 SUMMIT: ALL TALK….NOW ACTION

“In this global economic downturn, now is the time to engage with new concepts and policies based on fresh and diverse approaches that can result in actions to prepare Australia for the upswing in the economy and the challenges ahead,” Mr Mills said. 

“If Australia is to meet future challenges then governments must be able to experiment and learn from the best and broadest cross-section of thinkers and activists. The 2020 Summit was a foundation stone in this endeavour.

“By drawing these individuals together in a broad ranging dialogue, the 2020 Summit enabled fresh ideas and perspectives and the often silent voices to be heard.  

“There are many complex problems facing Australia and complex problems need reflection, wider contributions and the ability of the Government to experiment and improvise in finding imaginative solutions to the problems facing our nation. 

“Rather than pouring cold water on the Government’s response to the Australian 2020 Summit as ‘too little too late’, let’s make this broad, ideas-seeking approach the norm for Australia’s policy making. 

“Let’s engage Australia’s best and brightest and the common sense of ordinary Australians in solving our big challenges (like drought, bushfires, salinity, security, social inclusion, homelessness, climate change, healthy ageing) with innovative thinking and imaginative action. 

“As a starter, let’s fund teams of cross-disciplinary problem-solving experts and deploy them to ensure opportunities for innovation are built into even short-term stimulus measures, eg: re-engineering school building specifications to be more environmentally friendly. 

“Governments experimenting with new polices and directions are often met negatively in the media and the community, but the risk of being ‘old-school’ and one dimensional is a dangerous path for both business and Australia into the future. 

“The Australian Business Foundation’s research shows that if Australia is to reap productivity benefits into the future, then it needs to be innovative in its policies, the skills of its people and its business capabilities.  

“One key initiative that the Australian Business Foundation recommends is the creation of a National Centre for Innovation Research, similar to the one that has been established in the United Kingdom. 

“Australia needs to capitalise on and coordinate urgent investigations into the realities of innovation and how to reap the economic and social benefits for Australia in the 21st century.

 

“Such research is vital in understanding the complexity, the dynamics and drivers of innovation and its relationship to improved productivity.

 

“The 2020 Summit was an important first step, but the success of the Summit will be measured on the ability of the Federal Government to meet the challenges with fresh approaches and policies that enable Australia to thrive and boost productivity growth beyond 2020,” Mr Mills concluded.