As well as the chance to celebrate our nation with the traditional barbeques, beers, and citizenship ceremonies, Australia Day also gives us an opportunity to reflect not only on where we have been, but where we are going.
And the short answer to that is that we are growing.
Exactly how fast, and by how much, will be revealed in one of the key reports slated for release early this year the upcoming intergenerational report from Treasury.
We already know we have one of the highest population growth rates in the G20. And we are living longer – perhaps not all the way to 150 years – but certainly much longer with each generation.
Just over half the current average lifetime away, by 2060 the ABS predicts that Brisbane and Perth will have doubled to be around the same size as Sydney is today. Whereas Sydney and Melbourne will become New York-sized cities at close to 8.5 million people.
These figures are a powerful reminder of the increasingly urgent need to plan – and build – for our future.
Infrastructure, investment, jobs – these will be the key words on every politician’s lips in 2015, not least those of the Prime Minister.
We will be pushing hard to see their words translated into action.
That’s why we are arguing for tax and planning reform, to enable growth in our industry and bring on the private investment to underpin it.
2015, bring it on!