I too am optimistic. That's the bent of my nature, but then again, pessimism is a self-fulfilling rout.

Here's the Government 2020 Website, with entry forms for submissions over a range of topics:

http://www.australia2020.gov.au/

- come on OLO Commentariat - have a go!

“As genie of the bottle, I am obliged to ask of you what’ll? –so,
What future would you like sir? And maybe at what charge sir?”

“Than you. My name is Dr. Faustus and I want the present to be the extra grouse-est.
Charge today to their tomorrow, Cos I won’t be there to share the sorrow.
My world of 6.5 billion is somewhat less tight than having ten - of children, women, men.
My fertile soils are fast disappearing – but that’s nothing to what they’ll be fearing.
And my clean water’s getting shorter – decreasing until THEY have competing fellow-human slaughter.
I’ll halve my rate of smoking – but with twice my numbers, they’ll still be choking;
There’ll be plenty left to fear from what I’m now doing to their atmosphere.
And MY technological cure will be all theirs to endure -
As my benefits from its fix will be sadly seen by them as nix.
Now I’m having a talk-fest to find out what I’d like best,
From which I’ll rush out there and here giving many a rousing cheer
To strive for this and that; for the things I’m prepared to go and bat;
For the multitude or rights that I have firmly imprinted in my sights.
After which I’ll feel good and glowing as I keep on keeping-on growing,
Blind and careless of limits in my time – leaving them to the future will do just fine.
I am Dr. Faustus, and I am sure - that the sentiments I have outlined will endure”.

I am certain that Dr Faustus will be predominant at this talk-fest. All the fingers on the controls are pushing the buttons for increased pressure of numbers on the already-stressed land of which we are supposed to be stewards. It won't do us much good, and far less to those who follow.

Colinsett

I enjoyed the poetry and ideas, but what should we do? Lie down and die?

The 2020 Summit has already succeeded in encouraging Australians to do what one of the world's leaders called 'the vision thing' - here we are talking about our future - but can national brain-storming make a difference?

How can the Prime Minister best act on the brightest summit initiatives? Is it possible for Rudd to plot a real change of course from the catastrophic direction under Howard? While the symbollism of the first 100 days has been a dramatic opening act, we now want the transitional move into reality.

The pointy end of policy implementation always comes down to power. Power is currently shared like a dog's breakfast between the states and federal governments. To date, Rudd has been most diplomatic in his dealings with Premiers. But will diplomacy work better for him than for Howard? It's most improbable, even with lot's of good-will.

Even by its own low standards, the Coalition of Australian Governments (COAG) has not measured up to its ambitious tasks of devising effective national planning strategies through 'harmonisation' of state and federal laws. Under COAG, effective policy making is usually the first casualty, with empty platitudes the norm - like the agreement by the states to stop cost shifting to local government. Why? Because one or more of the premiers and chief ministers regularly exercise their veto powers. We must do better.

Rudd can be a circuit breaker with recalcitrant states by skillfully deploying the substantial incentives and sanctions at his disposal. We need to see Rudd's metal on all the adopted outcomes from the 2020 Summit.

Translating good ideas into legislation and following through with achievable management plans is no mean feat.

If Rudd demonstrates some outstanding leadership in territory that Howard was afraid to tread - we do have hope.

Meaningful reform requires engineering a major overhaul to the way that Australia is currently governed; by cutting out the unproductive and obsolete hinderances strangling effective governance of our nation.

A good starting point would be the introduction into the next session of parliament of some enlightened national laws that would draw on constitutional powers to replace many of the inconsistent and inferior state laws that have yet to be harmonised.

By directly partnering with local governments around Australia, Rudd's government could strengthen local communities delivering federally funded goods and services directly to Australians according to a region's local priorities thereby avoiding the state middlemen who all too often act as the spoilers, procrastinators and whose involvement produces major funding leakages through the journey of implementation plans into their bloated, often autocratic and unsustainable civil services.

Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred voices contend. Where did I hear that? Did it do any good?