Europe

In many ways, Australia today reminds me of Europe in the first decades of the post-war period. We are full of optimism … our population is growing … our economy is booming. But make the wrong choices about the size of government now, ignore the challenge of population ageing, gloss over temporary problems with public deficits, and just a few decades later, we will end up like Europe – under different stars, but with the same destiny.

Through their economic good luck, Australians have been lulled into a false sense of safety. They feel invincible in the wake of a recent strong economic performance. They think they can afford the luxury of saying ‘no’ to further growth. To any European still remembering the 1980s, this has the same nostalgic quality as shoulder pads, Rubik’s cubes and those daggy Rick Astley songs. But actually, we would want to see the return of none of these.