Sport’s vision helps teach us what’s important in life

In terms of happiness and productivity, we are going backwards. Sport shows us a way forward.

Swim star Emma McKeon wins gold in the 50 metre freestyle. Picture: Michael Klein

When many of us tuned into the Commonwealth Games from Birmingham recently, we were reminded that sport – at its best – embodies both achievement and egalitarianism.

We admire athletes who perform new feats of strength, speed and dexterity. We prize the idea that what matters isn’t their bank balances or their connections, but their hard work. In team sports, we want to see a tournament in which the last-placed team of one season starts the following year with a fighting chance of winning.

Sport is a source of national and personal pride for millions. Watch an international sporting competition and there is a reasonable chance an Aussie will be in contention. And every year – through a combination of ingenuity, grit and teamwork – Australians smash sporting records like plates at a Greek wedding.

Yet the Australian economy hasn’t produced the same kinds of gold-medal-winning performances and individual satisfaction.

Productivity – the amount that each worker produces in an hour – is barely rising. The nation’s biggest companies today are virtually identical to those that dominated our economy in the 1980s, and not all that much changed from the behemoths of the 1910s.

Megafirms are merging like never before, while the new business start-up rate has dropped.

Other measures of economic dynamism are deteriorating. Switching jobs usually produces big productivity gains for companies and significant wage gains for workers. But the job-switching rate has declined. The same goes for geographic mobility: Australians are less likely to move house now than in the past.

Unlike the egalitarian ethos that shapes the best sporting contests, the Australian economy is delivering an increasing share of the gains to a fortunate few.

From 1975 to 2021, real wages grew by 33 per cent for the lowest-paid of us in society, 55 per cent for median earners and 81 per cent for the highest-paid.

Australians now have fewer friends, join fewer organisations, and are less likely to volunteer. The rise of inequality and the decline of community means Australia is increasingly becoming a nation that values “me” over “we”.

At a time when the social divides that separate Australians are wider than ever, sport can provide a common language and a shared experience. Many people who have migrated to Melbourne have found that picking an Australian Football League team is as essential as knowing where to catch a tram. In the Victorian capital, ­Aussie Rules provides a common language that often helps to bridge differences in ethnicity, class or culture.

In Townsville, rugby league plays a similar role. When floods hit the North Queensland town in 2019, no one was surprised to see Cowboys players helping to evacuate stranded residents.

Whether in the stadium or in front of the television, Australians are enthusiastic fans with a larrikin spirit. Team sports reflect a unity of purpose and the strength of diversity.

Athletes remind us that sacrifice, courage and kindness are not outdated values but admirable traits in the modern world.

Sport is imperfect, yet at its best, it uplifts and inspires. Building a fairer society is a team sport, as is creating a stronger economy.

There is no single solution to our social and economic problems, but the right set of ideas can work magic.

Like sporting talent scouts, Australia needs to become better at nurturing entrepreneurs from unconventional backgrounds. We need to encourage dynamic markets by curbing monopoly power.

To ensure workers are fairly paid, it’s vital that they can move between organisations and be represented by strong unions. Curbing the mistreatment of hospitality workers, defending penalty rates and providing universal sick leave will help restore the dignity of work. And just imagine how much more sport we could watch with a couple more weeks’ annual leave.

Just as great players rely on their coaches, education is vital to building a happier and healthier society. Attracting and retaining great school teachers is perhaps the best single thing we could do to create a more affluent and equitable society. The advances of technology shouldn’t lead us to give up on work any more than the rise of fast food should lead us to yield in the battle against obesity and inactivity. Wage subsidies and job-creation programs can be targeted at those who are out of work. Managers can also do more to prevent email turning employees into human network routers, and make work more meaningful.

Sport has often led the national conversation on inclusion, proving that more diverse teams can kick more goals. Better reporting of the problems, and better evaluation of the solutions, can help companies benefit from racial and ethnic diversity.

Likewise regarding gender ­diversity, where eliminating sexual harassment, making jobs more flexible and encouraging dads to take parental leave can help narrow the gap. Evidence from Norway and elsewhere indicates that fathers who take paternity leave are more likely to change nappies, bathe their babies and play with their children. Unfortunately, while the typical advanced nation provides two daddy months, our country only offers two weeks.

If child rearing was a global sport, other countries would be fielding teams with a much better gender balance than Australia.

Making jobs truly flexible, providing more pay transparency, and giving fathers more paid leave are just some of the ways of closing the gender earnings gap. Efforts to eliminate discrimination and sexual harassment are critical too.

What is at stake isn’t just a fair go for the 51 per cent of the population who are women, but a more productive economy and a happier society.

When the final whistle blows, sport reminds us that life is rarely a choice between fairness and excellence. Sportspeople who play hard but treat their opponents with grace are the ones we honour with statues, speeches and best-and-fairest trophies.

On the field or court or track, successful athletes are strong and generous, tough and inclusive. Let’s make our society and our economy a fair game too.

Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. This is an edited extract from his new book Fair Game: Lessons from sport for a fairer society & a stronger economy, published by Monash University Press. Out Thursday.