Late last year the Productivity Commission provided some guidance about how we might lift our performance with the release of the first of its five-yearly reports – the Shifting the Dial report. This is another example of Australian policy institutions tackling important issues through serious and systematic reviews. A central theme of the report is the importance of services and cities.
Most Australians now work in the service sector and live in cities, so how we deliver services and how our cities function have a major influence on our future living standards. This is yet another area where we will benefit from a strong innovation mindset. On building our links with Asia, we continue to see progress.