“The future is expensive” – managing cost-of-living while investing in security

Delegates, thank you very much for being here, and I'm delighted to see that the numbers are reasonably evenly split between economics and society.

So the dismal, the dismal science is not so dismal or maybe just fits the, the tone of a lot of our, our concerns about national security anxiety that have, uh, informed this conference.

We really have a, uh, an outstanding panel here to help you and help me unpack, uh, and I hope critique as well the work we've done on community consultations, public attitudes to security, risk and resilience, but very much through the, the lens of the economy and the nexus of economy and society in Australia.

Because one of our starkest findings in the focus groups, of course, as I've mentioned, was that although we identified heightened anxiety about security risk, we also recognize that economic hardship is the day-to-day risk that a lot of Australians contend with more than a risk, but a, a reality.

And of course, this does not pose any kind of enviable challenge for policymakers in government up on the Hill or indeed anywhere in the, the corridors of, of, of power and influence.

The three guests don't need much introduction from me, but just to recap, we've got the leads of three key institutions, three key research institutions and think tanks around the country that look every day at economics and society, but often from quite distinct perspectives.

So immediately to my right, Dr. Aruna Sathanapali, who is the chief executive officer of the Grattan Institute, as well as directing its Economic Prosperity and Democracy program, bringing extensive experience not only in public institution design, economic policy regulation, but combining, I guess, government and also very much research expertise.

So thank you very much for being here, Aruna.

Uh, Dr. Richard Denniss, co-chief executive officer of the Australia Institute, and of course, those of you who are Canberra based particularly would know the work of Richard and his team very well.

Richard's a prominent Australian economist, author and policy commentator with previous roles, including here at the Australian National University at the Crawford School and as a, a columnist for the Fin Review and The Guardian.

And speaking of the Australian Financial Review, I'm really pleased also to welcome Michael Stutchbury.

So Michael was, of course, former editor-in-chief of the Australian Financial Review, but you know, I think a really, a really guiding and foundational role in, in, in, in building the Financial Review into the, uh, the newspaper that continues to have, I think, so much influence and, and respect around the country.

But of course, after your, your journalism career, you've now moved to become the executive director of the Center for Independent Studies i-in Sydney.

And so you bring, I guess, deep engagement, particularly with the corporate sector, to the perspective today.

So Aruna, I will turn to you first, if you don't mind.

So you've had a look at our data, and Grattan, I think, has a very proud record of looking at the way in which the economic, I guess, challenges for Australia and the pressures in society intersect.

We've always found your research pretty compelling.

So from your vantage point, if you were trying to synthesize what we've found into your worldview, what would be, I guess, some of the, the immediate challenges that would spring to mind?