Local prosperity built on more than just luck

The Reserve Bank governor has noted a number of times that the country needs a positive growth narrative.
Well here’s one. As it turns out, Australia’s prosperity isn’t as reliant on the mining sector as some think. Some of our best growth years occurred without a trade boom, when mining, and commodities more generally, were just a spot on the canvas.

Australia has come a long way from the early days of federation. We have a highly educated, ­highly paid workforce, with a ­diversified export base. Services are actually our largest export. Elsewhere, the nation also looks to have crawled out of its confidence rut. Business is reporting both conditions and confidence that are approaching some of the highest levels seen since the GFC. Actual conditions reported are at their second-highest level since the GFC.

It’s in that sense that Australia is still very much the lucky ­country. Not because we rely solely on our natural endowments, but because we don’t. They complement what is in reality a diversified, ­serviced-based economy. A very wealthy economy — and it’s against that backdrop that the future remains bright.