Creating Modern Australia - Essay Example

The 2000 speech by the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard indicated a great change that happened in the economy and the projection that the country would even witness greater changes. There are various aspects that the prime minister referred to including the economic, social and political issues. This paper discusses the speech in a deeper way to understand what it meant. The changes in experiences, values, and institutions in the new century are discussed (Lagerspetz, 2016).

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First, the Australian economy has shown great resilience regardless of the economic recession that has faced the world in the decade. Many countries in the world were affected by financial crisis where many people lost jobs, and many sectors of the economy such as retail industry was facing great problems. However, Australia faced these problems mainly because the trade partners were in problems already and considering the level of globalization of Australia, there was expected to be such problems. However, many people still got jobs especially part time jobs (Smith et al., 2012). The unemployment rate could also been facilitated by the increased women participation in the labor market as compared to the previous years. The entry of women in the labor market means that more people were willing to participate in the building of the Australian economy, which was a move towards the right direction. Additionally, there were great improvements in the service sector, especially in the healthcare sector where more people were hired. Better healthcare is very important because it influences the life expectancy of the people. This shows that though the Australian economy was facing problems like any other world economies, there were some positive changes that were already happening in the economy.

The Australian government has been able to create a thriving modern economy, by the policies that have been created in the course of many years. This happened after the government realized that there are various resources in the country which have to be utilized. This can be achieved if there is an increase in the population of the country. The population could be achieved through an immigration policy that ensures that Australia gets a well trained human resource that can be important in improving economic performance. The vast amounts of lands had not been exploited, and agriculture could be a great driver for the economy. The minerals in the country could only be extracted be exploited if there is the necessary manpower. This is why the government came up with a well-organized immigration policy especially from people from Europe (Maddison, & Denniss, 2013). As there was slow growth in the population in these countries, Australia has also encouraged immigration from other countries in the world who have economic value to the country. This has made it possible to stimulate economic growth of the country as the productivity that results from the immigration activities has greatly increased.

The century has led to a multicultural society, where many people from various parts of the world live together. The cohesiveness of the country is evidenced by the presence of people from Europe, as well as those from Asia in the country. There are also people from Russia, who believe in communist ideologies, but coexist with the other people from the rest of the world. The people also profess different religions, but this has not hindered them from interacting. The diversity in Australia is evident in government entities as well as in other companies operating in the country (In McFarland, & In Wehbe-Alamah, 2015). These people work together regardless of their cultural backgrounds, to achieve a common goal of developing Australia. The people from various parts of the world came to the country for various reasons, including seeking for job or doing business, while others came as refugees because of the wars in their countries. Many people have now been successful because of the welcoming environment in Australia.

During the decade, Australia has been able to nurture important democratic values. The most important value is the justice for the aboriginals. In the past, these people have been ignored and their development has remained very poor. However, the government and other citizens are concerned about the justice of these people. There has been a rising demand for the government to offer support and treat these people in a fair way. Justice is one of the important aspects of a democratic society because it ensures that the rights of all individuals are protected (In Ho, & In Jakubowicz, 2014).

Other important democratic values especially in the Commonwealth countries is to achieve full employment rates. Australia has been committed to achieving this, and this is why it has collaborated with the relevant agencies to ensure that there are more jobs for the people. The country has allowed labor unions that ensure that the employees receive the best compensation, and the employer organizations, on the other hand, are empowered to ensure that they encourage more investments in the country. The country has also opened up the rural areas for investments, including improving the infrastructure in such areas (In Ho, & In Jakubowicz, 2014). This is why industries such as mining have done very well in the 20th century. Other social amenities in the country have been improved to encourage more people live in such areas and provide the needed labor. While full employment has not been achieved, many people in Australia have decent jobs, which is an important aim of a democratic country (Maddison, & Denniss, 2013).

With the rowing population, Australia has been able to increase the number of security officers over the years. There are officers in charge of internal security, and this is why whenever there are cases of insecurity such as terrorist events, there is an immediate response to ensure the safety of the individuals. Australia also has well trained and equipped army like other Commonwealth countries, which was not the case in the past. This means that the country is always ready to defend itself in the case of external threats. The strong security in the country is a major reason that has ensured that Australia remains peaceful, providing the right environment for the development of the economy (In McFarland, & In Wehbe-Alamah, 2015).

The twentieth century is also characterized by more people living in the cities, where there are greater and better social amenities. With the concentration of people in the cities, the costs of infrastructure are greatly minimized, where transport systems are made shorter as well as other means of transport. The government does not have to spend huge amounts of money in infrastructure because they only need to cover shorter distances, where the people live. On the other hand, people spend fewer amounts of money in transport because they are closer to cities and work near such cities. However, there are challenges that are associated with congestion and poor housing (Okamoto et al., 2010). The generosity of the investors in the country is such that evictions have reduced in cases where individuals fail to pay rent. However, the increasing number of investments has led to the employment of many people, hence the issue of paying rent is no longer a problem.

From the discussion, one observes that there has been great changes in Australia, in the 20th century. There has been improved the economic performance of the country, which accommodates people from a diverse background from all over the world. There has been a new cohesive culture that nurtures global values considering that people from diverse background are able to co-exist. The government institutions have improved their activities, making policies that help improve the lives of the people. Infrastructure, provision of social amenities and foreign policies have greatly been improved because of the good governance in the country. Democratic values have been upheld in the country where justice for the aboriginals is being sought (Lagerspetz, 2016). Transparency in the way the government operates has made it possible to improve service delivery to the people. The policies created have improved the investment opportunities, where many people now prefer to invest in Australia, hiring more people. The labor laws and well-organized trade unions and employer unions have ensured that businesses have a good operating environment. All these changes in the 20th century indicate that the prime minister speech to a great extent explains the 20th century. It is evident that there was a rupture from the 19th century, to the 20th century that has better institutions, experiences, and values that are different from those of the past. The Howard speech thus in a great way explain the situation in the 20th century in Australia.

Reference List

In Ho, C., & In Jakubowicz, A. 2014. 'For those who've come across the seas ... ': Australian multicultural theory, policy, and practice. London; New York: Anthem Press.

In McFarland, M. R., & In Wehbe-Alamah, H. B. 2015. Leininger's culture care diversity and universality: A worldwide nursing theory. Burlington, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Lagerspetz, E. (2016). Social choice and democratic values. Cham: Springer.

Maddison, S., & Denniss, R. 2013. An introduction to Australian public policy: Theory and practice. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Okamoto, J., Institute of Southeast Asian Studies., & Ajia Keizai Kenkyujo (Japan). 2010. Australia's foreign economic policy and ASEAN. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Smith, R., Vromen, A., & Cook, I. 2012. Contemporary Politics in Australia: Theories, practices, and issues. Port Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press.