Canberra must put aside petty rivalries and work co-operatively with other cities and states, according to the managing director of the Commission for the Future, Susan Oliver.
Ms Oliver warned of the dangers of internal competition in the face of changes in Asia.
“”Australia is poised on the very precipice of international irrelevance,” she said.
She was speaking at the National Gallery of Australia last night in the “”Canberra. Face of the Nation” series sponsored by the National Capital Planning Authority, the ACT Government, the Canberra Business Council and the University of Canberra.
Ms Oliver pointed out the inanity of internal squabbling and jockeying in Australia while the rest of Asia had cohesive national charters.
“”State economic agencies still describe their successes in terms of the head offices they have poached from another Australian city ” she said. “”Our competition lies in Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.”
Australia’s structure of governance should permit the Australian city states to complement each other in a collective vision. As it was, for example, there were 17 local councils in the South-East region to which Canberra belonged.
Segments of Australia saw themselves competing against each other, instead of co-operating: “”Sydney”, “”Melbourne”, “”the southern states”, “”the Italian community”, the “”Vietnamese community”, “”the Arts Council”, the Business Council”, and so on.
They “”are joined to each other by a light cord manufactured from the threads of geography and circumstance without the benefit of cultural, religious and belief system threads to strengthen”.
Other more cohesive nations were taking advantage of growing globalisation of trade.
World exports in 1990 were 15 per cent of world GNP, compared to 7 per cent in 1960 and 8 per cent in 1970. Australia had to become more international.
“”Canberra’s role must principally be one of leadership,” she said. “”The strength of the Canberra city state is surely its trade, particularly internationally, in the linked activities of culture, diplomacy and trade in goods and services. In Canberra, as nowhere else in Australia, we should expect to find an international city, a city where international languages can be learned, where diplomats, public servants and business meet to develop their linked strategies for Australia’s participation in world trade, the scene for international seminars on critical world issues, including future issues.
“”Canberra must take the lead in working co-operatively with all other Australian states and cities, with its sights set on the big picture. There is no time for petty rivalries between the working partners for Australia’s future.”