Sample Essay There are many reasons why Australias is so successful

Canberra, 5 February 2001
The TWO: Challenges ahead

[Abridged speech to the Australian National Press Club by Director General of the TWO, Mike Moore]

“There are many reasons why Australia is so successful. But surely one of the main ones is its greater openness to trade. In 1990, Australia’s exports came to 39 billion US dollars. Last year, they were an estimated billion. Ten years ago, imports came to 39 billion US dollars. Now they are put at billion. Total trade, exports plus imports, now accounts for over two fifths of the economy. A decade ago, it accounted for only a third or so.

What do all these numbers mean? They mean that Australia is much more open than it was. And because it is more open, it has become richer and a better place to live. Trade works its wonders in many ways. Higher exports help pay for goods and services that are more cheaply produced abroad. The need to compete in world markets forces companies to become more efficient. And exporting firms provide good, high-paying jobs. A study by Tim Harcourt of the Australian Trade Commission  finds that exporting firms pay 60% more than non-exporting ones. Exporting firms also provide more employee consultation, more job security and more training. In short, they are better employers. The best security workers have is a healthy balance sheet.

Imports too bring many benefits. Cheaper food and clothing for working families. Cheaper and better cars and electronic goods. Cheaper inputs that make businesses more competitive. And last but not least, new technologies and greater competition, both of which boost economic growth.

The benefits of greater openness are not just economic. I love my country, and I’m sure you love yours too. But it’s great that we can read the New York Times online, travel to Europe, and sing karaoke. Openness is not just about getting richer. It’s about enriching people’s lives by embracing, rather than shunning, what the rest of the world has to offer. Opening up, which is basically what that ugly world “globalization” means, is in keeping with the internationalism that progressive people have always championed. The Asian crisis could have turned truly lethal had leaders not stayed the course and had markets closed. It happened before, during the great depression, which gave birth to hostile trading blocks and to our organization, which was created to prevent this. The system worked.

Our challenge now is to continue to open up. Some people think that globalization, on which every perceived ill is blamed, has gone too far. They want to turn the clock back to a golden age that never was. I’m old enough to remember those times: the stagnation of the 70s when we lived in glorious isolation. Then, only the rich who could travel overseas had consumer choice. Trying to go back to those old ways is not an option.”

 (2001). The TWO: Challenges Ahead. Retrieved February 9, 2007 from

http://www.tuc.org.uk/english/newsier/spume/spmm52_e.htm

 

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