But the high dollar is exacting a price: it is a really hard slog for every Australian business that exports. Things we make and sell overseas are more expensive for the foreigners who buy them. The fact the dollar has risen so sharply and relatively quickly has made adjusting very difficult for Australian businesses, particularly in manufacturing, tourism and international education. For the whole of the Australian economy, the critical pillar of our response to these structural changes is being prepared to get in and shape this change, not hide from it or cower in the face of it.
From innovation and infrastructure to skills and competition, we are shaping change. We're investing in and driving the uptake of clean energy, high-speed broadband and new infrastructure; we're lifting skills and engaging in tax reform and deregulation. Much of the work is difficult, some of it is controversial, but all of it is necessary.
And we must do more. Our reform effort reflects our continued commitment to jobs, productivity and growth. But the reform journey cannot be walked alone; it must involve all parts of our society working together.
We have the best workers in the world. We can do more to help ensure that people who need jobs get the jobs that our strong economy is creating.
Joining up the people who need work with the businesses that need people is often difficult, but it's a challenge that has to be met. We are continuing to work on regulatory obstacles to labor mobility, and to get rid of regulations that artificially impede productivity.
We've put in place incentives to get people from welfare to work. We are boosting workplace participation through reforms to employment services and ensuring people on low incomes pay less tax. We are looking at new ways to improve opportunities across the economy through things such as letting tradespeople work more easily interstate and investing in childcare. If fewer parents relied on extended family for childcare, they might be more prepared to move interstate. So we're working on improvements here as well.
While shaping change is at the heart of our efforts, confidence is the soul of our sense of economic well-being. You don't get hard things done without believing in yourself.
Golfer Gary Player probably wasn't the first who first said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get", but he certainly made that quote his own. He could have been talking about Australia. If we ever were just a lucky country, we're certainly not now.
Luck didn't give us the three triple-A ratings for our budget, which only seven other economies with stable outlook can claim - and which no previous Australian government can claim either. Luck didn't keep us out of the worst global recession in 80 years.
No, we did it with reform, good decisions and with confidence.
Today and tomorrow in Brisbane we'll be sitting down with business and community leaders and working on new grounds for confidence and new ideas for reform.
We have every reason to be optimistic as Australians about the future of this country. I firmly believe our nation's best days are still ahead of us.
