Foundations

It’s easy to criticise governments and politicians, to say something is bad or that they should have done one thing instead of another.

It’s harder to make a critique: to set out some standards that government has not met, to explain why they have not done so, and to make a case for why and how it could be done differently. Real change does not come as a result of criticism; it comes as a result of critique and of offering a better plan to achieve our goals.

If we want change in the ACT, we have to move beyond complaint and criticism. We have to form a view on how and why government is falling short, and develop an alternative view of what Canberra could and should be.

Today’s essay is the first in a series that will make that critique and work through what it would take to actually build a better Canberra.

The purpose of government

In building a house, you need strong foundations. Building a society, government, or political party is no different: each needs a foundation of clear principles and values that everything else can be built on.

It’s not enough for those values to be known and shared: they must continue to shape what is being done and why. If they are ignored and forgotten, the foundations will crumble. Sooner or later, the edifice will collapse.

Those values must also define our answer to the fundamental question in politics: what is the purpose of government?

In the ACT, eight people make up the Executive – the Chief Minister and Cabinet – who collectively wield enormous power over Canberrans. We spend almost $10 billion a year and employ more than 31,000 people – around one of every 16 Canberrans – to implement their decisions. Given all the power and resources we put into government, we need a clear and shared understanding of what we are hoping to achieve.

For classical liberals, the purpose of government is to enable human flourishing.

Flourishing is the idea of the good life: one that is meaningful, fulfilling, and worthwhile. This is an old idea, dating back as far as Aristotle, and means government isn’t here to serve itself or a clique of insiders. Government is here to enable everyone in our community to flourish and to realise the good life.

But of course, there’s no single definition of what makes for a good life. It’s up to each one of us to figure it out for ourselves: for some people, it might be to raise a loving, close-knit family. For others, it might be fame and fortune. Some people are driven to creating or achieving something – such as in art, commerce, knowledge, or sport – and some people are drawn to serving their country, community, or faith.

Whatever flourishing means to you, the government’s role is to create the conditions where you can realise your idea of a good life.

The role of government

Because there’s no single definition of a good life, it’s not the place of government to tell you what to do or how to live. The government’s role is to enable us to live our best lives by giving us the freedom to find out what our best life is and to pursue whatever it is that makes us happy.

That creates a limit on government: they need to respect our autonomy and agency, and preserve our individual freedom, as much as possible. This becomes a core principle of what government should do.

Another principle comes from the fact that it’s not just governments that have to respect our freedoms: people have to respect them as well. And, as we can’t all enforce our own freedoms, it creates an obligation on governments to ensure people are free from coercion and harm.

But individual freedom, both from government and from other people, is not the only thing that determines whether we can achieve the things we want in life. We are also limited by time, opportunity, and resources. Whether as individuals or societies, we have to consider what we have the capacity to do, prioritising those things which mean the most to us.

That’s where government can actually make a difference and support human flourishing in a positive way: without telling you how to live, government can help to expand the set of opportunities and relax the constraints that might otherwise prevent you living the life you want. This is a third principle of what government should do.

And it is fundamentally why prosperity and material wellbeing matter. Not because people should have more material goods but because it enables people to flourish in ways they otherwise could not.

Growth

If the purpose of government is human flourishing, and material wellbeing enables greater flourishing, it follows that governments ought to support economic growth. In fact, this should be one of the few things at the very core of what government does.

There are two ways government can make an individual better off: they can redistribute some of society’s resources towards that individual or they can support economic growth. Both have their pros and cons — but only one leads to sustainable, broad-based improvements in lives and livelihoods.

We saw that in Australia between 1980 and 2007, when living standards doubled and enabled millions of Australians to lead better, more fulfilling lives. This was brought about by a rapid economic expansion that persisted, and compounded, for almost three decades. Governments certainly engaged in redistribution at the same time, but it was growth that produced better lives and growth that enabled increased redistribution to occur.

Some people view economic growth with scepticism but it ultimately just means higher wages, lower prices, and more opportunity. These are the very definition of better living standards: in the short term, it means a little more breathing room in the household budget. In the longer term, it means we can spend more on the things we enjoy (like luxuries and travel), more resources for addressing social and environment issues, or we can work less and put more time into the things we find meaningful.

This means governments have a moral obligation to support economic growth; it is part of the reason we have government in the first place. But it’s an obligation most Australian governments – federal, state and territory – have neglected for the last two decades.

In that time, living standards in Australia have barely grown. Older people know the economy can work better — after all, they experienced that growth firsthand — but younger people often feel like they are getting a raw deal. No matter how educated they are or how hard they work, their living standards generally aren’t improving: housing is unaffordable, wages barely keep pace with inflation, and the income tax burden is heavy.

Young people are not the only ones who feel this way. Too many Australians – including Canberrans – don’t feel like they are flourishing or enjoying the good life. And they are increasingly frustrated with governments who fail to help them realise their aspirations.

Those governments are failing to deliver what people want and expect from them, and disaffected voters are increasingly shifting away from the parties of government, including One Nation, teals, and independents. That support will continue to grow until the major parties rediscover the reason we have government and the principles for them.

Conclusion

The essential question here – what is the purpose of government? – may seem abstract but it should be the foundation to every decision government makes. And it should define how we answer the question of whether a government is doing a good job.

That’s the question we consider in the next essay: are we creating a society in Canberra where people are flourishing?