Via the ABC come Australia’s greatest challenges for the future according to Q&A gallahs:
LIFE PRIORITIES
Tara McDonald asked: We seem to be fixated on living longer at any cost and prolonging the inevitable which is death. Could we be spending more time and money on protecting future generations instead of ourselves?
FOOD & WASTE
Andrea Wood asked: 40% of food produced does not get eaten. While 815 million people worldwide go to bed hungry. How do we get people to understand quickly, and globally, that our food security is under threat and to start treating food as the precious resource it is?
LESS MEAT
Melissa Neave asked: Do we have to move away from meat in order to meet the challenge of feeding future populations while limiting our environmental impacts?
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Richelle Lim asked: The mass urbanisation and inventions of the 18th century permanently changed society henceforth the industrial revolution. How do you think the emergence of A.I technology will change and shape our society in the future?
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & JOBS
Morgan Hamilton asked: Automation of labour is a fear for many people, and will affect low skill industries the most. How can we ensure everyone is taken care of in the future when jobs are already scarce?
PREDICTING THE FUTURE
Dennis FItzgerald asked: Why haven’t we got the future I was promised in my 1960s childhood as shown by ‘Lost in Space’ which was set in 1997. How accurately can we say what the future holds when there is so much unreliable information available?
CHALLENGES OR OPPORTUNITIES?
Scott Rayburg asked: While the issues raised by Julian Cribb are undoubtedly challenges, many of which could lead to severe consequences for human civilisation and the biosphere, many of these also seem to offer opportunities. Do you think that part of the reason we are paralysed into inaction is the language surrounding these crises? How can we change the language and embrace the opportunities that these challenges present?
POLITICAL FAIL
Maree Horseman asked: Having witnessed numerous Australian political leaders fall victim to their attempts at progressive policy making, does the panel see a way to overcome the factional power games and partisan politics that consistently thwart long term sustainable solutions to some of our biggest challenges?
CLIMATE & BUSINESS
Jonty Hall asked: Given the continuing inaction on climate change and the desire across many industries for greater certainty around future climate policy, what strategies can Australian businesses use to force action on this issue?
CLIMATE IMPASSE
Michelle Grosser submitted a video question: The UK declared a climate emergency in May 2019 and since then they have looked in detail at the way the British economy can be de-carbonised and have also looked at the long term security of their food and health. There are obvious benefits in applying this long term lens to policy decisions so why do the conservatives in Australia fight to retain a short term focus?
FUTURE GRATITUDE
Alex Giannopoulos asked: Much of the political discourse about ‘looking ahead’ tends to be negative, and focuses on what needs fixing. But does the panel think there are things we’re getting right today, which future generations will thank us for?
Of these, only two challenges are in the top four, in my view, which are in order of priority:
- Liberal democratic political decay (incl. post-truth media).
- Climate change (incl. limits to growth).
- The rise of the CCP and its risks to Australian democracy.
- The mass immigration economic model and falling living standards (incl. housing affordability and the wealth divide).
Liberal democratic political decay is first because without it then everything fails.
Climate change speaks for itself as the existential challenge to the species.
The rise of the Chinese Communist Party will change Australia into a unrecognisable gulag if not stopped.
The mass immigration model will destroy Australia’s entire identity, classless culture, standards of living, environment and democracy if not addressed.
Pretty much everything else is parlour talk which means there is one more to add to make five: failing intellectuals and national broadcasters who obsess over trivia while the nation burns.
