Australia’s Governance Performance Under Scrutiny in New Report Ahead of Federal Election
Los Angeles/DNA – As Australia prepares for its federal election on May 3, a new report has shed light on the country’s governance performance. The Australia BGI Report, released by researchers from the Berggruen Institute think tank, the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and the Hertie School, highlights deep structural issues that need to be addressed by the next government.
The report, based on the Berggruen Governance Index (BGI), reveals that while Australia may boast a strong economy and sophisticated political institutions, it is facing challenges such as overreliance on extractive industries, rising political polarization, and unresolved racial tensions. These issues, along with the country’s economic centralization and lack of diversified industries, have the potential to undermine its future stability and prosperity.
“The country’s economy continues to rely heavily on environmentally harmful extractive industries, while economic centralization in only a handful of cities has driven up housing costs,” the report states. It also highlights the need for Australia to address its overdependence on China, one of its largest trading partners, while also maintaining its strong alliance with the United States.
The report further notes that while Australia ranks highly on democratic accountability, it lags behind in terms of economic diversity. “Despite ranking 9th globally in GDP per capita, Australia ranks only 99th worldwide in the Economic Complexity Index (ECI),” the report states. This is due to the country’s heavy reliance on export of minerals such as iron ore, coal, and petroleum, which make up more than half of its total exports.
To overcome these challenges and ensure future growth and stability, the report recommends that the next government focus on building economic complexity and diversification. This would involve leveraging Australia’s strong state capacity and educational system to develop a more advanced services sector and complex manufacturing.
With the election just days away, the report also highlights the key issues that may influence voters. These include rental affordability, which has reached its worst level on record, and the country’s preferential voting system, which has been criticized for concealing a “darker history of Indigenous dispossession and racial discrimination.”
In light of these challenges, the report emphasizes the need for the next government to prioritize the “domestic essentials of growth” and implement reforms in the housing market to address the issue of rental affordability. Additionally, it urges the government to focus on building a more complex economy to reduce vulnerability to foreign powers and ensure future growth.
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