Balancing Act: Australia Between Recession and Renewal

George Megalogenis contends that Australia is in danger of being left behind by globalisation, with its economic defences weakened and its political system having lost much of its credibility. He lays out the task facing Malcolm Turnbull's government: an unfair tax system, underinvestment in infrastructure and education, and both major parties clinging to a model that no longer works now that the mining boom has ended. Markets have left the country with congested cities, widening inequality and companies that feel little duty to pay tax. Megalogenis argues for redrawing the boundary between market and state and for active government. He looks back at how wartime needs once spurred the rebuilding that shaped modern Australia, and asks whether another crisis will be needed to prompt renewal. The issue also includes readers' letters responding to the previous essay.