What would I do if I was Jim Chalmers? Commit to real structural reform.

A lot of the talk around the recent federal budget has focused on the surplus, with the government boasting cost-of-living relief and clean energy initiatives.

But there’s more to this story – while these measures are worthwhile, they are only playing at the surface. They do not fundamentally change the mechanics of what is an inherently flawed system.?

To be clear, this is not a criticism of the current government. This is a criticism of the system we are operating in. That is, a linear economic system that is built on mass extraction, mass production, and mass consumption. A system that relies on scale to create profits, and is enabled by cheap fossil fuels, cheap labour, and cheap credit.

What we need is genuine, transformative structural reform.

Right now we are in a cost of living crisis

Young Australians today are set to be the first cohort worse off than their parents. Younger generations are facing insecure work, housing shortages, and an anxiety-inducing climate crisis.

It’s no wonder people are starting to question whether the system is broken. What they don’t realise is that the system is not broken – it is working exactly how it was intended.?

That intent is growth – regardless of whether or not it makes (the majority of) us thrive. With 82 percent of wealth owned by the richest 10 percent of people in the world, it is pretty obvious who is benefitting from this system.

You can see some of this play out in Jim Chalmers’ latest budget – it is all about rewarding asset holders, particularly those with real estate and various financial assets, who are typically older, wealthier members of the population. And of course, a big chunk goes to supporting the extractive /fuels industry’s interests.?

The result is a budget that avoids upsetting the wealthy and powerful, and tinkers with welfare just enough to be nice to less advantaged communities. It is charity rather than economic empowerment.

The idea of Australia being the land of the fair go is moving further and further away from reality. But it doesn't have to be that way.

We are not powerless. We can choose wisely about how to spend our money. (There is a great discussion about empowering people towards the end of this podcast episode)

So what would I do if I was Jim Chalmers?

To start, I would stop giving tax breaks to the wealthy.

There has been some talk about the implications of the Stage 3 tax cuts, but I think if more people really understood what they mean they would be outraged.

The cuts, which passed Parliament in 2019 and are scheduled to come into effect next year, are expected to cost $243 billion over the next 10 years.

Think about that for a second. $243 billion. That is a huge amount of money. (It is worth taking a look at this piece in the ABC which represents what this money could buy – and who really benefits).

Most of that money, $189 billion to be exact, will only benefit the top 14 percent of income earners (those who earn more than $120,000 a year).

Just think what else we could have done with it.

We could have invested in a green transition and fostered an economic framework that generates equitable economic opportunities and outcomes – instead of relying on welfare to patch up the shortcomings of our economic system.

We could have invested in social housing that is built for purpose, or in community energy resources that link electric vehicles, rooftop solar and virtual power grids to network this energy (I’ll save the discussion of ownership v access for another day).

We could have reformed our tax structures so that they tax things we don’t want, like waste, emissions, and pollution.?

The bottom line is we need a total systemic transition, leveraging collaboration, innovation, and technologies to create equitable and longer-lasting prosperity, enabled by an economy that is circular, not linear.

Without this, we are left operating in a system that is geared to benefit those at the top, at the cost of those at the bottom, all the while eroding our economic resilience. By allowing wealth and power to consolidate within a limited number of individuals / industries, we are undermining our collective potential for growth.

It’s time for a change.

It’s time to have an economy that benefits (all) people and planet.

About: Ashleigh Morris is a systems strategist on a mission to catalyse the global transition to a circular economy. She has been recognised as a Top 100 Global Corporate Social Responsibility Influential Leader, a Prime Ministers Scholar, an Australian ASEAN Emerging Leader, Brisbane’s Young Business Person of the Year 2020, and an invitee to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly. Ashleigh holds advisory roles with industry bodies for mining, textiles and renewable fuels and was recently appointed to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Legacy Committee. She harnesses her fiery belief in a better world to spark change where its impact matters most.