I am pleased to launch today the Final Report of the Australia 2020 Summit, a document which captures the debates, deliberations and ideas of those who took part in the summit process.
Around 1,000 Australians attended the Australia 2020 Summit at Parliament House last month, in addition to those who took part - more than 500 School Summits, 2020 Youth Summit, Jewish Symposium and in a range of local and regional events took place.
We wanted to shake the tree in free and open forums and see what good ideas fell out, ideas that will make Australia an even better place in the future.
Some of the good practical ideas to be put forward for national consideration at the 2020 Summit included:
* A comprehensive inquiry into Australia's taxation system;
* Community Corps, whereby young Australians undertake community service in return for HECS debt relief;
* A Learning for Life Account that extends Australia's superannuation system into new areas like lifelong learning.
* A new National Preventative Health Agency to ensure a new prevention effort is sustained, coordinated and evidence-based.
* A national clean energy portfolio of several flagship projects - in ‘natural advantage' categories such as agriculture, clean coal and renewable energy.
* An Australian Sustainability Challenge (from the Youth Summit) whereby local communities compete to deliver the largest shift towards sustainable living.
* Initiatives to improve the understanding of rural Australia among those living in urban Australia, particularly among school children.
The Government has already implemented the first of these ideas by setting up the Henry Commission to review Australia's taxation system.
This report provides many ideas for Australia's path to the future.
Throughout the many different and diverse discussions reflected in this document, some central themes also emerge.
This document tells a story of a modern approach to nation-building, in which Government does not have all the answers, but where we as a nation aspire to be the best place in the world to live, work and do business
This is the result of a series of conversations with thousands of interested Australians, from which this raft of ideas has emerged.
I want to thank all those people who took up the opportunity to be a part of this discussion about our future as a nation.
I thank the volunteer scribes, co-chairs and facilitators, and staff within my department for their efforts in producing this Final Report.
The task of Government now is to consider all of the summit recommendations in the Final Report, and to deliver on our commitment to respond to these by the end of the year.
The Government has maintained throughout this process our support for concrete ideas that set out a practical approach to nation-building, and this will be reflected in our response.
The release of the Final Report does not signal the end of discussions and debate.
I encourage every Australian to continue to contribute their ideas and be part of the conversation by making a submission online.
The Final Report can be viewed at, and downloaded from, the Australia 2020 website www.australia2020.gov.au.