The former chief economic advisor to Australia has challenged the nation's leaders to be "direct and honest" for the sake of the future economy, during a QUT Business Leaders' Forum today.
Dr Martin Parkinson PSM, who served as Australia's Secretary to the Treasury from March 2011 until December 2014, said it was vital to embrace a "greater maturity of debate around policy" or risk the country getting "constantly stuck in the short term".
He said Australia's biggest future challenges, including climate change and how to engage with the Asian Century, needed a "sustained approach".
"If we're in a world where each time the government changes everything gets thrown out, we'll never ever move away from the short term and we'll never get to grips with these challenges," he told a capacity crowd at the Hilton Brisbane.
"So I think there's a remarkable need for a greater maturity of debate around policy in this country.
"If you're really serious about getting the policy out there, sometimes you have to suspend the short-term desire to play politics."
Reflecting on the leadership lessons he'd learned from 34 years as a public servant, Dr Parkinson said good leaders were "open-minded" and could "recognise there are no shortcuts".
"They need to recognise that they are not the repository of all wisdom, which places a premium on listening carefully to a wide range of views and having the relationships to be trusted in open, honest and frank discussions," he said.
"A good leader also needs to recognise that policy is a public good created in a contestable market in a repeated game. You may win sometimes but at other times you will not - so at all times you need to be conscious of your professionalism and integrity and recognise there are no shortcuts - only hard work will get you to the end of the process."
He said the importance of "direct and honest interaction" could not be overstated, arguing that "honesty of communication" had been crucial in the success of politicians including John Key and Mike Baird, and "the past success of Hawke, Keating and Howard".
Dr Parkinson warned that without a change in attitude Australia would fail to take full advantage of the "massive shift in economic weight from the Atlantic to our region".
"This shift is already underway and is not just changing economics and trade, it is seeing a complete rewriting of the very rules that have underpinned the world order since the end of World War II. Indeed, our region is likely to be the focus of economic and strategic transformation that defines this century," he said.
"However, the complacency engendered by 24 years of uninterrupted economic growth is fostering an insular attitude."
Currently enjoying an "intermission" before perusing a "second career" in the private sector, Dr Parkinson spoke about his working-class beginnings which saw him attend a technical school before becoming hooked on Economics in Year 11.
He went on to study Economics at the University of Adelaide, becoming not only the first person from his extended family to go to university, but the first to finish high school.
"I had always been intrigued by how society operated and, in particular, why the poor seemed to remain poor no matter what," he said.
"This coming of awareness through the prism of economics occurred against the backdrop of that great experiment, the Whitlam Government. Economically, the Whitlam era could hardly be described as a success, but it was a period of massive social change as Australia was wrenched into the modern world."
Dr Parkinson's career in the public servant included helping deliver the capital gains tax and fringe benefits tax in 1985, leading the development of the Howard Government's emissions trading scheme, and establishing the country's first department of climate change under the Rudd Government.
The man who called himself the "accidental policy adviser" after starting in Treasury "to get some experience and cash", is also a champion for gender diversity.
"Helping women and men avoid unnecessary trade-offs between family and career is not only important for them personally, it is critical if we are to develop the best possible talent and leadership pools for our organisations," he said.
Coca-Cola Amatil Group Managing Director Alison Watkins will address the next Business Leaders' Forum on Thursday, August 6.
For more information, go to: www.qut.edu.au/business/about/events/qut-business-leaders-forum
Media contact:
Rob Kidd, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, rj.kidd@qut.edu.au
After hours, Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901
