Australia is still lucky... but for how long?

"What got us here won't get us there" Marshall Goldsmith

Did you know the term 'lucky country' wasn't originally meant as a compliment?

Professor Donald Horne AO, an Australian journalist, writer, social critic, and academic, coined the term ‘lucky country’ in 1964 as a critique of national complacency and hubris, arguing we had inherited rather than earned our prosperity. 50 years on many would argue the moniker still applies.

From my perspective however luck favours the prepared.

In June we went to our nation’s capital with around 100 multinational CEOs to meet with a range of key senior ministers from both sides of the political fence to gain an appreciation of their plans and preparations for Australia’s future.

All the CEOs that belong to our International CEO Forum are the local or regional leaders of global companies. Together we represent a significant proportion of the foreign investment community in Australia.

Despite the popular and often negative rhetoric about foreign investment in Australia, and many other countries around the world at present for that matter, we have benefited enormously from it.

For starters foreign investment in the Australian economy has been critical in financing the shortfall between national investment and national saving, estimated at around 4% of GDP over the last four decades.

The total value of foreign investment in Australia is almost $3 trillion dollars.

The United States and the United Kingdom are the top two sources of investment in Australia, ahead of Belgium, Japan and Singapore.

Foreign investment helps Australia reach its economic potential by providing capital to finance new industries and enhance existing industries, boosting infrastructure, productivity, and employment opportunities in the process.

The higher growth supported by foreign investment also pays dividends for all Australians by increasing tax revenues to Federal and State Governments, and increasing the funds available to spend on hospitals, schools, roads and other essential services.

There are also other important, and arguably less recognised, contributions companies domiciled offshore make to their host national economy. These contributions include:

• adding both liquidity and depth to the local market for business-to-business sales (e.g. being a buyer for early-stage local businesses, engaging in joint ventures to develop new products),
• providing local companies easier access to global markets (e.g. by introducing local suppliers to global supply chains that the parent company participates in), and
• engaging in innovation-related collaboration (e.g. sponsoring university research, partnering with local research institutes).

80% of multinational CEOs surveyed by the International CEO Forum said they have supported the local economy by at least one of these activities above.  

A broader appreciation of the role the foreign investment community plays is important, just as is preserving the national interest. The two are not in competition with each other. Rather they can and have been powerful allies. Our future prosperity depends on getting this alliance right. But that is not the point of this article.

So what is?

Well The Australian journalist Beejay Silcox wrote earlier this year

“in this global climate of division and populism it is vital to be clear-eyed about the faults and fault lines in our own nation.”

I left Canberra last week with a deeper appreciation of the current faults and fault lines in federal politics but I also left with a sense of hope and admiration.

What I hear you say? Canberra… politicians… hope… admiration! How can this be? Please let me explain.

I cannot imagine a leadership role more difficult than that of being a political leader, particularly with today’s 247 news cycle, caucus factions, cross benchers, disinterested voters, and the culture of opposition. 

Given the current state of affairs it is remarkable that anything gets done in Canberra. But it does. Regularly. We only tend to hear about the bills that don’t get passed, not the vast majority that do.

Bipartisanship is not dead... it is just not as news worthy!

Last year we were joined by Meg Whitman during her short trip to Australia. She commented on the difference between business and political leadership stating words to the effect that

'my time running for Governor of California was 100x harder than the toughest of days at ebay or HP.'

That brings me to the point of this article and the reason why I have hope and admiration for our nation’s political leaders?

Anyone who knows me well knows I am no political junky or policy wonk. My comments herein may be seen as idealistic or even ignorant to those that are. But my role over the last six years has given me unusual access to Australia’s state and federal political leaders both past and present and I am invariably struck by the deep passion they have for this country, the incredible fortitude they have to lead in remarkably difficult contexts, and the personal sacrifice they have made to take on these roles. Hence my admiration.

Do they always get it right? No way.

Do I? No chance.

Do you?

But we seem so quick to judge their contribution, their handling of situations, their intent, when we have so little data to really work with beyond a 10 second sound-bite and how the media or those around us interpret it.

We are seeking forward momentum. Searching for real leadership. Screaming for more bipartisanship. Fair enough.

But as we heard from two of Canberra’s leading government relations experts “people and companies that make progress in Canberra don’t turn up with their individual problems, they come with a coalition and workable solutions.”

Maybe the workable solution to more progress is for us to hesitate next time we felt the desire to criticise or condemn our political leaders and instead acknowledge that we may not know all the variables at hand?

Rather than ‘put the boot in’, ‘pull the boots on’ and get on the field to help.

Maybe the workable solution to more bipartisanship is for us outside of Canberra to stop feeding the beast of division and start celebrating that we have been an incredibly lucky country and by working together we can prepare for and rightfully earn an equally prosperous future.

But I hear you saying 'oh Rich you are so na?ve'. Maybe. But as one of the greatest political change agents of the last century said maybe its worth trying to ‘be the change we wish to see’.

Maybe if we all focused more on what unites us than what divides us then maybe we will continue to be a lucky country, not in the Donald Horne sense of the term, but because we have earned it.   

Please find below links to my previous monthly posts.

• Change management has become a joke!
• Are you ready for the third age?
• What matters most in a post-truth world?
• Never waste a good crisis
• Your best bet yet for a year of success
• What will your New Year's Evolution be?
• Are you ready for the 'gig economy'?
• Are you working with an energy vampire?
• From counting people to making people count
• Five novel tactics for better leadership
• Mid year reviews: Ubiquitous but ridiculous
• Talent pipelines are broken
• Australia: The innovation immigration correlation
• Time to reimagine HR
• The secret to successful disruption: The innovation colony
• How to survive and thrive in the supermatrix
• The biggest predictor of career success is...
• The secret to high performance is not what you think...
• Where are you on the digital vortex?
• Diversity does not equal inclusion
• How to catch and hold the rebound expat
• The e-factor is the new x: the ultimate growth multiplier
• Are you working with a waste of space?
• Iron Man needs you!
• Collaboration: the new super skill
• Leading innovation from the Australian subsidiary
• Insurgent or incumbent: the key to a future every company wants is...
• Why the talent war is over
• How 'the other GDP' is causing a talent crunch

Rich Hirst is a Director of CEB's International Executive Forums, providing a range of services specifically and exclusively for the most senior executives in the Australian operations of foreign-owned multinational corporations.  

CEB's International Executive Forums operate four peer groups: the International CEO Forum with over 3o0 CEO members; the International CFO Forum with almost 180 CFO members; the International HRD Forum with some 160 HRD members; and in 2016 we launched the International CSO Forum for heads of sales functions. In addition to our peer group services, we also provide a range of opportunities for our member companies to develop their up-and-coming talent through a series of events with a particular focus on women and emerging executives. For more information please call +612 9955 2848.

CEB is a best practice insight and technology company. In partnership with leading organizations around the globe, we develop innovative solutions to drive corporate performance. CEB equips leaders at more than 10,000 companies with the intelligence to effectively manage talent, customers, and operations. CEB is a trusted partner to 90% of the Fortune 500, nearly 75% of the Dow Jones Asian Titans, and more than 85% of the FTSE 100. CEB is now part of Gartner.