When I was invited to give this address, I was told that it would be part of a session entitled “Australia in 2020: strikingly similar, significantly different, or in relative decline”. From this, I assumed that I was required to speak on medium-term issues, which I am always very happy to do.
But since I have a couple of difficulties with the session title above, I may not stick to the script expected of me. My first difficulty is that I am wary of forecasts going out as far as 2020.