Abundance

Scarcity is what holds the ACT back. The solution is abundance.

Our last two essays made the case that the ACT’s economic model is failing to deliver anything other than scarcity for Canberrans. Today, we consider the alteprnative approach and how we can actually build a better Canberra.

Embracing abundance

If the fundamental challenge for the ACT is scarcity, the solution is to embrace the alternative. That alternative is abundance.

This is the idea that artificial constraints, across huge swathes of government and the economy, are making our lives worse. These constraints take the form of a multitude of mandatory processes, obligations, regulations, and rules. Each constraint may be justifiable on its own but, collectively, the accumulated burden creates complexity and uncertainty, decreasing the likelihood of initiatives and projects coming to fruition. The end result of this is a society that is unable to create, build, or innovate.

This is a recipe for stagnation and decline.

To embrace abundance, on the other hand, is to embrace growth and new supply. It is the necessary foundation for a society that does things and builds things, both in the private and public sectors, and ultimately improves the lives of its people.

This is not a novel idea. The reforms of the Hawke, Keating, and Howard governments were all based on improving prosperity by expanding supply. And the same thinking underpins the YIMBY groups that have been so successful in reshaping attitudes and housing policies around the world. Supply reform works and we need to apply those lessons here in Canberra.

Abundance is an idea that cuts across the political divide, because scarcity impacts the political priorities of the right, left, and centre. The constraints which hold up a new commercial project also hold up new solar farms. The obstacles to new private housing are also obstacles to new public housing. And the processes which make new highways so expensive also make new light rail and high speed railways so expensive.

By removing the constraints that prevent people creating opportunities, growing businesses, and investing in new ideas, abundance produces the productivity and economic growth we need for Canberrans to enjoy higher wages, lower prices, and greater prosperity.

It’s what we need for Canberrans to enjoy better lives.

A governing philosophy

Abundance is a governing philosophy built around human flourishing, growth, and prosperity. Embracing that philosophy means shifting the orientation of the ACT Government and embedding abundance in the work of every official, from the Chief Minister on down. We can make that shift by establishing core principles to guide their decisions.

First amongst those principles should be a presumption in favour of supply. The current approach effectively prohibits anything unless it has made it through a thicket of processes, rules, and objections.

Instead, we should have a presumption in favour of expanding supply — new buildings, projects, and ventures — unless there is a compelling reason not to proceed. We need to shift from precaution to permission.

Second, we need to consider the cumulative burden that government imposes on individuals and organisations. The current approach only considers the costs and benefits of a tax, rule, or process in isolation, which leads to excessive constraints — delays, cost escalations and systemic uncertainty — and ultimately produces scarcity.

Instead, we should consider how an intervention affects the overall burden placed on Canberrans and the impact on new competition, investment, and housing.

Third, we need to prioritise speed, certainty and delivery. The current approach ignores the costs of delay and deferral, which are usually invisible: businesses that never start, housing projects and investments that are abandoned before applications are finally decided, and worthy initiatives where approvals come too late.

Instead, we should shape decisions and processes around a recognition that time kills ideas, projects, and opportunities.

Putting these principles at the core of government decisions will shift its orientation from scarcity to abundance, realising better policy outcomes and more opportunity for Canberrans. It will also change the culture of Canberra: we will start to become a place where projects proceed, where it is worth taking a chance on a new idea or a project, and where things happen.

Key reforms

Changing the government’s orientation is essential but insufficient. We also need to implement sweeping reforms to change the decisions and policies that are holding us back.

Scarcity was not the product of a single decision, law, or regulation. It is the outcome from thousands of different constraints, implemented over a number of years. So the work of pivoting away from it and towards an alternative will not be fast or easy. The scale of this means we need to prioritise those which will generate the biggest benefits.

The top priority must be housing affordability.

If we want Canberra to be a place where people can create and innovate, where businesses can access workers, and where local people aren’t leaving, we need to ensure people can afford to live here. The cost of living starts with housing, and we need to embrace the supply necessary to make Canberra affordable.

Another priority must be increased business competition and investment. If we want Canberra to be a city where it is viable to start, grow, and run a business, we need to ease the burdens we put on them. We need simple, clear regulatory frameworks; faster, more responsive, and more predictable approvals processes; and a tax system that isn’t a deterrent to starting or growing a business here in the ACT.

A third priority must be expanding the capacity of the ACT Public Service. Given the ACT Budget’s challenges, the only way to improve public services is by empowering officials: reducing administrative burdens, respecting the autonomy and expertise of frontline staff, and ensuring merit-based decisions. We also need to repair the Territory’s fiscal position, so the debt is manageable without constant tax hikes, starting with ensuring that new investments can feasibly provide real value for money.

These are the foundation of the reform program we need to bring to build a better Canberra.

Conclusion

Canberra has all the ingredients it needs to be a great city, a place where Canberrans can truly flourish. Abundance can help close the gap between our potential and reality.

Next week’s essay takes the final step and shows us how we can bring about the reforms we need to build a better Canberra.