Governments must ensure that everyone is carried with us in this new age. After all, the new technology is all about making life easier, not more complicated. My government is harnessing all arms of economic policy to support adjustment and to develop new areas of competitive advantage. Apart from education and training, this includes active labour market policies, support for innovation and the development of action agendas to accelerate the development of emerging sectors such as information technology and telecommunications . But above all, the Australian Government is a high growth government.
Growth is the passport to higher job creation.
High growth and the jobs that come with it will ease the unavoidable pain and dislocation which is inherent in the structural adjustment caused by globalisation. The economic and social change caused by globalisation challenges all governments whatever their political stripe. Instead of drawing protectively inwards in the vain belief that this will lessen the impact, governments, businesses and employees should strive to achieve still higher economic growth to ameliorate any ill effects of change. This higher growth can only be achieved on the sure foundation of strong economic fundamentals. Yesterday, Australia recorded the rare phenomenon of negative annual inflation of 0.3 per cent, the lowest annual change for 35 years.