‘It is time for a change. A radical change. A momentous change. And the easiest way to start that change is to alter the way we think’: REINT boss Quentin Kilian

Instead of immediately attacking ideas and building barriers to change, let’s embrace and encourage blue-sky thinking and find ways to bulldoze the barriers entirely, writes REINT chief executive QUENTIN KILIAN.

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‘Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of commonplace, the slaves of ordinary.’ Cecil Beaton.

I have been a Territorian, a proud Territorian, for over 50 years and in that time we have had some visionary thinking. However, that “blue sky thinking” — vision without limits — appears to have been usurped by a focus on daily ratings and job protection and finding reasons for things not to happen.

I am so sick of hearing “we can’t do that” or “that’s not Darwin” and “let’s think on a smaller scale”. I am tired of people that spend time and energy finding “problems to solutions”. People who start from the position of “no” and “can’t”.

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It is time for a change. A radical change. A momentous change. And the easiest way to start that change is to alter the way we think. Let’s start by saying “why not” and “yes” and “let’s find a way to make that happen”.

I have spent a good deal of my adult life living and working in Hong Kong and Singapore, throughout Asia and into the Middle East. Hong Kong changes every day with new development. Singapore grew because of the vision of Lee Kuan Yew and others who shared his vision. Dubai has become one of the most amazing cities on earth because people with vision said yes. Qatar built an entire city based on vision.

It can be done. So why not Darwin?

I have put forward a proposition to turbocharge our city. To rapidly build a population base, which is the underlying factor to any city’s growth and prosperity. To create a “point of difference” that would make Darwin stand out. The proposition is not without flaws and issues that need to be addressed, but “let’s find a way to make that happen”.

This proposal, based around reinventing Darwin as a casino city, would create thousands of jobs. Not a handful. Not FIFO or contract work, but jobs where people live and spend and invest in Darwin. It would mean millions of people visiting our city. Millions of people passing through our airport each year. It would drive infrastructure projects for new housing, new roads, new amenities, new services, a new airport perhaps.

REINT boss Quentin Kilian says Darwin should build a casino on Mitchell St, using the many empty buildings along the party strip. Picture: Che Chorley

It would create the underlying population base needed to make things such as water parks a commercially viable option. It would create a population base that would interest Aldi, IKEA and Myer … heaven forbid it might even get us a Dan Murphy’s.

We have 4.5 billion people living to our north. In China alone more than 10 million people per year become “middle class citizens”, which means they have money to spend, a willingness and ability to travel and a desire for some of life’s pleasures and luxuries. According to Credit Suisse there are more than 13 million millionaires in Asia alone!

What if Darwin was the place they chose to visit? Chose to spend their money in? Chose to invest in? Chose to create business opportunities in? Yes.

But this is not just about any single proposal or idea, it is about moving the mindset of thinking from mediocrity to visionary. Why put boundaries around our thinking? We have a golden opportunity to move from the endless cycle of “talking and planning” to “doing and reinventing”. We can, if we choose to, do this on a grand scale.

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But we must start encouraging and embracing this line of thinking. Instead of immediately attacking ideas and building barriers to change, let’s embrace and encourage blue-sky thinking and find ways to bulldoze the barriers entirely.

When is the right time for such radical change? Now! Now is always the right time to change, to reinvent, to cast off the naysayers and NIMBYs. And for those in charge, our leaders, if you are incapable of such radical change then accept it gracefully and move aside to allow it to happen through someone else’s vision and drive. Step up or step aside.

Now, let’s see where the blue sky can take us.

Quentin Kilian is the chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of the NT