Respect and acceptance is our message to Muslim Australians. Hijabs are as welcome as Akubras. Any vision for Australia should welcomes the Muslim community and encourages it to respect our heritage and enrich it with theirs.
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No one word defines more what Australia stands for than Commonwealth – think about it, Common Wealth, shared prosperity, equal opportunity, a fair go. This has been our heritage and, god willing, it will be our future.
As we stand now, we are part of a family of nations who value friendship and fairness and that's where we should stay. Any move to go it alone as a republic would be a backwards step. We have so many privileges as a Commonwealth country and so much that we can contribute back into this community. We propose nothing less than the roll out of a New National Identity. We need to reinvent ourselves and as a nation of people known for getting the job done. We propose that Australia become known as The Can-Do Country. Forget being the lucky country or even thinking we're the clever country, if we want to be competitive on the world stage in any single field you care to name, then it's all about getting in and getting the job done.
Candoness needs to become our new national ethos. We believe in a small Australia. Not small in ambition, achievement or greatness, not small in vastness, toughness or determination but literally, small in population. We dispute the notion that population growth is imperative for national prosperity. Australia faces a choice, become boutique nation of excellence or a bloated nation of mediocrity. Growths doesn’t to mean bigger, it can just as legitimately mean better.
We propose that Australians decide now by way of national referendum, what we want the population of our country to be in the year 2060 year. The vision of reconciliation is a complex and sensitive matter and one of this countries most important national responsibilities.
We believe true reconciliation requires the recognition of an aboriginal nation. We see the indigenous nation as being a nation within a nation. Sovereign to a point with independent values, beliefs and governance but not to the extent of independent laws, currency or geography. In the sense that we acknowledge aboriginal people as the traditional owners of this land we see the same circumstances applicable to the formal recognition of an indigenous nation. Wake up Australia! As a nation we’re drifting with no clear vision of where our country will be in 50 years and what we want it to look like. We’re making bad decisions based on short term gains (e.g. mining prime farm land for a short-term cash while risking the long-term viability of that land for future food production). The problem is largely that we’re far to reliant on government to solve our problems and create opportunities. At best, governments are reactionary. They are by nature, administrators, not innovators. In order to make this change the first thing Australia needs to do is adopt a new national identify. We need to lose the lingering sense of entitlement that being the lucky country once gave us and instead reinvent our selves as the Can Do Country. A Can Do Culture cuts red tape, ignores bureaucracy, makes decisions, takes risks, drives change, and gets things done! To solve the great challenges this country faces we must take a new approach, one which is much more pro-active and long term oriented. Vision for Australia's mission is to advance bold visions and facilitate big decisions. Our timeline is oriented to immediate action leading to results that are current 50 years from now. What follows are conversations and provocations to that affect.
It's very easy to argue against building a high-speed train network between Sydney & Melbourne based on big distances and low populations between these centres but I believe the positives out weigh the negatives. Consider this; 10,000,000 people travel between Melbourne/Canberra/Sydney each year! That is more than enough to sustain a high speed train network. Consider also the benefits that the long neglected regional centres would gain and things start to stack-up. Imagine living in Albury/Wadonga and taking a 40 minute train ride to work in either Melbourne or Sydney. Let’s talk more about this. Have you ever heard of the idea of Ready-Fire-Aim (instead of Ready Aim Fire)? What they’re really saying is just get the job started and not wait until everything is perfect. You just need to start. Australia has become mired in bureaucracy and red-tape. To much energy given to talking about big issues without actually getting in and getting them sorted out. Politics is a talkfest where issues are endlessly debated but rarely actioned. As a nation we can’t rely on others to solve our problems or create the next great opportunity. We need to take that responsibility for getting things done ourselves. Can-do-ness needs to become as culturally engrained as mateship. We need to be known as the nation who sets great goals and then gets started on achieving them. Can Do starts with you and me. It starts with can do companies, families, clubs and community groups. Ask yourself, what can I do today, right now, that will make Australia a better place to live? What can I do to improve my company, myself? What can I do to surprise my kids, my friends my boss, my customers? Think of something and then do it! Do it now is the by-line can-do ness. No procrastination, no excuses just getting in and getting started. Australia has some great challenges ahead. The world is becoming evermore competitive and for us to stay at the top we need to be striving to be the best. The best at what? How about engineering, medicine and curing so-called incurable diseases, social justice, entrepreneurship, swimming, football, statesmanship. In fact, whatever we decide! We need to become the nation known for aspiring to great visions then making them happen. We need a plan for the future, a bold vision which inspires us, and our children, and we need it now. The first step is for us to adopt a new national identity as the Can Do country. We need to shake off the red tape and leave behind the excuses. We need nothing less than to reinvent ourselves as the Can Do County and armed with this attitude we need to throw ourselves into creating the greatest-ever Vision for Australia Australia, the Can Do Country. What’s holding us back? NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release Date: 22 August 2013 www.visionforaustralia.com.au VISION FOR AUSTRALIA “The Can-Do Country” As Federal Election banter focuses on whether or not candidates can be sexy and buses breaking down it’s fair to ask, "Where’s the conversation about what Australia will look like in 2050"?
Vision For Australia.com.au is a discussion paper, an open letter to the Australian people reminding them they have the right to expect Visionary Leadership from their political leaders. Vision for Australia promotes the view that we can no longer rely on being the lucky country, that we must take greater responsibility for getting things done and reinvent ourselves as the CAN DO Country. Australians are invited to read and engage on subjects including: THE AUSTRALIA PLAN – a document written in stone, i.e. unable to be chopped and changed by successive governments, which gives us a nation building vision 50 Years into the future. THE VISION FOR AUSTRALIA PARTY – An invitation to register interest in an apolitical, issues based movement which focuses on issues which will effect Australia 50 years out. THE AUSTRALIAN POPULATION - A discussion about the population of Australia in 2050 and beyond. TAX-TAGGING - A new way to track how and where our taxes are spent in order to minimise waste and increase accountability. AN INDIGENOUS NATION - The path to reconciliation must come from the ground up, not the government down. WHAT IS A GOOD EDUCATION - Questions about what a well educated student looks like in modern Australia and what having an education system rated in the top five in the world actually means. Andy McLeod is an independent businessman who runs a business in western Sydney. He was compelled to write Vision for Australia from a level of frustration by how the current political system operates and its lack of a clear long term vision for this nation. ~ ENDS ~ w: www.visionforaustralia.com.au e: contact@visionforaustralia.org.au Welcome to this first blog post for Vision for Australia. This site is has been set up to promote discussion about the long-term future of Australia. The site promotes new ideas and alternate viewpoints about how Australia can become the CanDo Country. This is a key platform of Vision for Australia in that Australia needs to make decisions for the long term and then get those decisions done. The fact is, Australians can no longer accept the bureaucracy that is holding this country back. We're fed up with political infighting and lack of leadership. What we want is leadership that sets in place bold ambitious projects that we can get behind and believe in. Projects that look ahead 50 years or more and give the Australian people a direction and a sense of certainty that the decisions we make today will be in the best interests of our children and grand children.
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Moderator...Just so you know, this blog is a SUMMARY ONLY of the ideas we stand for. Vision for Australia (currently) has limited resources to research and write about the many topics it believes are important to the future of Australia. If you believe a particular subject is of importance to the future of Australia and you’d be interested in making a contribution, we’d welcome hearing from you. We welcome your comments here on our blog and our Facebook Page. You can email us directly here. Blogs by Month
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