SA economy not all gloom and doom
STEVE HARRISON: I just love logging into InDaily and reading the head of the big end of town Nigel McBride pedaling his doom and gloom analysis of South Australia (We’ve lost our mojo: business chief’s dire warning). It is so disappointing to continually hear Business SA blame everyone else, in particular, government, for the woes of the business community. It seems our business community forever avoids stepping up to take responsibility for its own troubles.
“McBride detailed how South Australia had missed the mining boom, failed to invest in adequate infrastructure and carried unsustainable state debt and public sector wage bill.” This comment is at odds to the mining, gas and oil industry account of itself at the 2013 GMUSG and SACOME Resource Industry Conference and Trade Expo held at Port Pirie this week, which Mr McBride attended. I can only assume Mr McBride did not hang around to listen to other presenters. The message at this conference was clear: mining, gas and oil may not be booming, but it is bubbling away and is very much alive and well. The role of government in assisting exploration and innovation is a story of a strong and welcomed partnership. This is a very exciting industry.
The reality is in South Australia that business must acknowledge its role in our sluggish economy and its inability to move quickly to adapt to global changes and global opportunities, or in some cases its refusal to accept change and continue with the mantra of business as usual.
Our economy is in transition and, sure, some will fall to the wayside, but many, many more will succeed and flourish. The opportunities for new industry and new businesses prepared to accept change and think globally is enormous and on both sides of the public and private sector we are blessed with hard working, incredibly talented people, who can make South Australia a powerhouse in our national and global economy.
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On a positive note, McBride said: “We are slightly better off than Spain.” On a more positive note, we would be incredibly better off if Mr McBride would keep his doom and gloom to himself and, instead, use his position to champion the opportunities and need for collaborative change and new approaches to way we do business in this state.
I would prefer to hear far more passion from our business leaders who are succeeding in South Australia -there are a lot of such champions out there, they just need a voice and we need to hear from them.
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