As someone who’s benefited from a massive increase in Australia’s growth and prosperity, I’d like to see the next generation enjoy the same opportunities as mine experienced. That means a sustainable country with an economy that can finance our future while we better protect our climate and environment.

So last week’s Intergenerational Report, typically publicly published every five years, is crucial. Our political cycles are short: the process of judging whether we have the right policy settings for 40-year trends is essential. Predicting the future is difficult, especially during a once-in-a-century global pandemic. But issues, such as our ageing demographic, are already clear and they affect the nation in ways that become more evident when you look over decades rather than years.