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Why is Bill Gates one of the wealthiest and arguably the most powerful man in the world when Professor Carl Wood and Professor Alan Trounson, who created life (Invitro Fertilisation), are for the most part unknown Australian scientists; and Fred Hollows, who restored sight to so many, a hero only in relatively narrow circles?

The answer has nothing to do with the often quoted Australian excuse of the tyranny of distance, or with excessive minimum wages in this country, or with taxation, immigration, or any of the other usually cited excuses.

The answer has more to do with Australia’s poor performance in marketing and commercialisation, which we believe is rooted partly in a lack of vision, and partly a lack of confidence to have a vision, articulate it, and then single-mindedly focus on achieving it.

Professor Holmes in his paper introduced the concept of the Third Way, a system which combines the best of planned and market economies and has as its goal the combining of an efficient and productive economy that is globally competitive with a more caring society. He challenges us to develop a conception of the Third Way that can be applied in the context of globalisation.

He challenges Australia to have vision. He asks:

"Why can’t we be at the forefront of change rather than lagging behind or just keeping up with the real leaders in so many major areas? Haven’t we more innovations to offer the world than compulsory seat-belts and booze buses?"

He talks about overcoming the "considerable complacency" and "self satisfaction" of Australia.

Perhaps we need a catalyst!

This has been a turbulent year for Australia - indeed for the world, with the drop in the price of minerals - now the turbulence has spread with the crash in gold and mining share prices - or the "correction" of share prices, the collapse of the Asian currency, and nervousness about currencies everywhere.

Of particular relevance here is the insight of Andrew Grove, President and CEO of Intel, in his recently published book "Only the Paranoid Survive". He says "There are moments in any business when massive change occurs, when all the rules of business shift fast, furiously and forever". He calls such moments "strategic inflection points".

A strategic inflection point can be set off by almost anything:

• mega competition,

• a change in regulations,

• even a seemingly modest change in technology.

In Australia we have all of these and more. We believe today Australia is at a strategic inflection point.

The world, or at least the developed world, has entered a new era. This new era is one which will be defined by globalisation, technology and communication, elimination of traditional boundaries, and a strategic focus on the global market place.

Globalisation means that efficient supply is increasingly taking precedence over geographic proximity. Global alignments are increasingly impacting on all industries. The virtual organisation has become a reality in technology and information based industries.

Technology has increased the precision and speed with which we do almost everything - from the precision and the speed with which a highway or a car must be built, to the speed with which new technology itself can be created. Technology has also increased both the complexity of information and the speed with which information can be transferred and processed with dramatic impacts on the speed of communication.

If globalisation has removed or weakened traditional geographic boundaries, the combined impact of globalisation and communications/technology has weakened the boundaries which separated industries, eg a credit card is now in many ways doing what a bank does; a utility company which installs a direct line to its customers is potentially in the business of telephony; a manufacturer plus internet can be a retailer. There are opportunities and threats in abundance.

It is in times like these, when a phenomenon like Bill Gates can emerge in 15 years, that a small country like Australia can grow, develop and take a leadership position.

At face value the weakening of traditional boundaries may appear to have little relevance for some industries. We would argue that the major players in any industry ignore the potentially profound, but as yet unidentified implications of globalisation and technology at their peril.

Today more so than ever before Australia must develop its own market. Andrew Grove points out that, managed wrongly, a strategic inflection point can mean the end of the game. Managed right, it can turn into a powerful force.

Clearly, we all want to manage it right - so we have tried to address the topic of Federation into the Future within this new paradigm: "Australia - the opportunity to lead the way."

So how do we go forward? Australia has always been dependent on many factors, such as:

• dependence on finite natural resources;

• cost of production of primary produce or manufacturing;

• demand and supply, and the price of minerals and primary produce on world markets; and

• market proximity and competition; etc

Ever improving technology and communication is increasing Australia’s efficiency in most industries. For instance, in mining and exploration new methods of surveying including satellite aerial photography, more sophisticated computer modelling of ore bodies, larger more cost effective plants, new methods of extracting gold eg bugs etc. In primary production we have genetic engineering, sophisticated land management and farming techniques, and we are arguably world leaders in wine making technology, to the bewilderment of France and Germany.

This kind of change, continuous improvement, has itself become almost a constant.-Australia is a leader in many of these areas.

It is in the area of the market - supply, demand, distribution and services - that everything is changing, that there are opportunities and threats in abundance. Over the last decade, demand for our minerals and primary produce eg gold, copper, coal and meat etc. has consistently outstripped supply, and consequently mining companies and primary producers have sensibly focussed their attention on production efficiencies, and in some instances on quality.

However recently such developments as the Reserve Bank selling its gold - resulting in a significant fall in the $US gold price and a general unsettling influence on perceptions of stability of the gold price; and the Asian currency devaluation - resulting in forecasts of declining growth rates and falling demand and prices for other commodities (The Asian crisis has already impacted dramatically on the Queensland meat export industry) have drawn our attention back to our market.

Today more than ever before Australia must create and develop its own market. We can no longer rely on overseas customers, or intermediaries to create and drive demand for our products and services (they have their own priorities).

If we agree that Australia must develop its own market, then the question is where to begin, and then what is the appropriate role for the Government. In reality there are a multitude of places to begin - Yes Professor Holmes Australia does have more to offer than booze buses and compulsory seat belts. And we have much to offer in areas which resonate with the Third Way. The following are just four examples of which we are aware, there are no doubt many more.

Marketing gold -to increase the value of the Gold Industry to Australia

One ring sells at $25; and another ring with a similar level of design but in gold sells at $1,550. There is clearly a large increase in price due to the ring being "gold", but the actual value of the gold (in terms of dollars to the gold industry) is a minor part of the increase in price.

If the gold industry in Australia is to flourish within this changing world it will need to take charge of its distribution channels and increase the share of the total value of the gold jewellery market that goes to the Australian gold industry. The opportunity exists today to do just that by marketing and selling gold jewellery over the internet. - BUT only if Australia does it first i.e. takes the lead and takes ownership of the market.

Australia, as a large gold producer, has much to gain by getting it right, and much to lose by getting it wrong.

Information

Australia is blessed with good information. We have the second best census information in the world (Canada has the best). We have arguably the world’s best single source database - for understanding customers, marketing, advertising, and media buying - Roy Morgan Single Source.

Today when it costs less to telephone interview throughout the United States from Melbourne than it does from a central point within the U.S., the opportunity exists to make Australia the global hub of marketing intelligence.

We are way out front in the thinking, design and implementation of this concept of global market intelligence today. The real challenge is to find a way to keep the intellectual property, the value, and the jobs in Australia.

Education - our children, our future, and a valuable industry for Australia

We all value education (yet it is still seen as a cost). The opportunity exists to make education Australia’s business - and a very powerful, and lucrative business it will be.

As we move towards the new millennium it is difficult to avoid wondering where our future lies, and what kind of world our children will inherit. In increasingly complex times as these the collective cognitive power of a nation’s people will have a great deal to do with determining its success. This means there will be a vibrant market for whoever corners the market. Two initiatives come to mind here for Australia:

Children of High Intellectual Potential - The aim would be to have Australia recognised as the Centre of knowledge, research, and practical expertise in the area of intellectual potential and its development. The value would come from the development of our own children, but also from the delivery of education services to the world (multi-media technology, and internet delivery of courses as well as interactive research and virtual reality make this a very exciting arena)

Distance learning -There is no question that Australia has the intellectual capacity to develop an excellent system of education - one which would facilitate everyone being able to reach their potential. It is just the economics of such a venture that beats us. However, if we consider our market for such an endeavour to be worldwide, then the economics of the business become extremely attractive. Global communications means that if we get the product right and we commercialise it intelligently there is indeed a world market.

 

Unemployment:

Despite clear evidence that unemployment is one of the greatest concerns to all Australians there is little hope being held out for serious reductions in unemployment levels. Yet again a combination of Australian ingenuity and technological advances looks poised to provide a way forward.

The Work Exchange Bureau or WEB is a concept for system designed to match under-utilised labour with the under-utilised capacity of industry. WEB has as its platform that Australia has enormous untapped productivity (unemployed people, retired people who still have plenty of energy and knowledge to contribute) which can be put back into motion in a parallel economy. And that industry also has untapped productivity locked away in surplus stocks and dormant capacity of equipment and real estate.

When surveyed by Roy Morgan Research, 35 % of Australians, an estimated 5,142,000 people, said they would be interested in participating in the WEB (68% of unemployed people, 41% of students, 22% of retired people, 28% of non-workers, and 36% of employed people would be interested in continuing their own jobs and working additional hours).

These ideas all have one thing in common - they are all about new ways of thinking. Perhaps the tyranny of distance has advantaged us in ways where we think outside the square.

The challenge for Government, in its widest sense, is to create an environment in which these kinds of Australian creations can be brought to fruition.

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