Maybe even preserving the best of Australia – our living standards, natural environment, independence, multicultural success, and sense of the fair go – will take serious work.

The cracks in the foundations of our luck are beginning to show.

Whatever form the next parliament takes, we must prioritise five areas: productivity, housing, tax reform, energy and environment, and our global position.

Productivity: the foundation of prosperity

Productivity growth must be a national priority – not just to lift wages and living standards, but to make public services sustainable. Neither major party has a plan.

Tax-free lunches from the Coalition and more red tape from Labor aren’t the answer.

We should start by adopting the Productivity Commission’s Advancing Prosperity recommendations. These include embedding productivity growth in the Fair Work Act, simplifying industrial awards, and modernising regulation, especially in construction.

What’s the point of having the Productivity Commission if we ignore its advice?

Government spending must also deliver better value. Let’s start with major infrastructure projects that serve the public (not just marginal seats) and bringing National Disability Insurance Scheme spending growth below 8 per cent while continuing to support those who need its support.

Across all areas, artificial intelligence will play a growing role. We need public debate, clear regulation, and a plan to use AI to improve government productivity. A dedicated minister for digital or AI would at least get the conversation started – before the technology starts the conversation itself.

Housing: a test of intergenerational fairness

This parliament finally recognised housing affordability as a generation-defining issue. Now we must act – not with demand-side giveaways of the past two weeks, but with reforms that unlock supply.

That means sharper incentives for states to reform planning laws, a simpler National Construction Code and an independent industry regulator, better local infrastructure funding, and occupational licensing and migration changes that allow skilled workers to contribute.

Both major parties have some good supply side initiatives – they should be pursued whoever forms government.

Tax: now everyone’s a ‘teal’

In this parliament, the most serious push for tax reform came from independents. This includes a call back in March from eight of us to index income tax thresholds to inflation, to end bracket creep and put some discipline on government spending.

Last week, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton took a break from calling independents “Greens in disguise” to say he agreed with us on indexing tax brackets. Just not yet though – it’s only his “aspiration”.

Ken Henry’s intergenerational tragedy is real. If we don’t reshape our tax system to work better for younger working people, we risk rising inequality and fracturing social cohesion.

And the tax system must better incentivise business investment, innovation and entrepreneurialism.

Our next parliament needs a serious tax reform process in the first year – not just aspiration in the never ever.

Energy and environment: stop the backflips

A decade of energy policy ping-pong has cost us billions and delayed emissions cuts. The clean energy transition is vital – for cost, reliability, and climate – but let’s not pretend it will be easy.

We’ve finally turned the ship around. Now it’s time to accelerate – by sticking to emissions targets, providing certainty for investors, and embedding major reforms already underway.

A top priority must be fixing the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

A practical compromise between business and the environmental sector is essential.

Without it, we’ll continue to destroy the natural world, while tying business in knots with slow and complex approval processes.

Our global position

The world order is shifting. In almost every credible scenario, Australia needs stronger regional relationships and greater defence investment.

The major parties talk up AUKUS and defence spending, but do little to explain what it means. In the community there is a lack of confidence on how we will respond to a much more uncertain global outlook and the 2nd Trump presidency in the US.

If Australians don’t understand the plan, they can’t be expected to support it.

We need a broader public conversation about our strategic future with greater transparency and more public parliamentary committee oversight. Only then can we build the national consensus required for action.

Our next parliament must be ambitious. That doesn’t mean ideology or utopianism – it means pragmatism, evidence, and commitment to the national interest, even when it’s politically inconvenient.

Whatever shape the parliament takes, these crucial challenges must be our top priorities.

If I am re-elected, I will pursue them as a strong independent because I know these are Wentworth’s priorities too.

The major parties have been paralysed by scare campaigns and wedge politics – they no longer have an appetite for reform.

Over the past three years I have worked to shift the debate on economic reform. If re-elected, I will continue to work across the parliament to advocate and support evidence-based policy that tackles these challenges.

A stronger crossbench can prod the major parties to finally act. A parliament that strengthens the centre is not a threat to stability – it’s an opportunity to raise the standard of policymaking, bring new ideas to the table, and drive real change.