Remembering the ‘Other’ Australia

The best speech during the recent election campaign came not from any of our political leaders. It came from the outgoing president of the Business Council of Australia, Michael Chaney.

He said: ‘For all the talk and mutual congratulations over economic prosperity, we need to remind ourselves of the other Australia. This other Australia includes the 3 million people who remain outside the workforce, many of whom want to work. It includes the one in seven Australian children who live in households where there’s no wage-earner.

‘It includes the unacceptably large numbers of Australia’s indigenous population for whom very low rates of workforce participation, poor health and low life expectancy remain endemic. For a nation which prides itself on equality and a fair go, these figures are out of sync with its core values.’

Quotes taken from article by Michael Short, The Age, 1 January 2008, p. 16.

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