Our nation has found itself in a moment of great significance.

One that increasing numbers of Aussies are starting to feel in their bones. Our national pulse is one of heightened anxiety, cultural malaise. As we examine the state of our institutions, our position in the world, and reflect on our collective spirit, many of us are understandably questioning what our future holds.

Australia’s industrial and cultural strength is trending toward decline. Economic stagnation, incentives skewed toward passive assets, and GDP growth driven purely by the public sector all mean the next generation inherits lower living standards. The ‘fair go’ feels a distant memory, fading into nostalgia.

A culture and news cycle that defaults to low ambition is driving brain drain and killing creative energy. Young Australians feel this most, and will be the ones forced to reckon with the new realities they have inherited.

We are one but we are many

Build Australia enters this scene as a force to help steer our country toward a brighter one.

A future and national character grounded in optimism, defaulting toward unity and inherently ambitious. A culture invigorated with possibility and togetherness. A collective voice of ‘yes, and’, which drowns out the “we can’ts” and the “what about’s” that have become such common refrains.

Build Australia is a movement to shake us out of stagnation and reignite Australian industry, creativity, and ambition. We exist to ensure our luck persists for generations to come.

This is us planting a flag. We hope others will see it, approach it with their own perspectives, and join us in taking agency over our future.

From little things big things grow

This project was born of a group of once-disconnected Aussies who have, from different perspectives, reached a similar conclusion: it’s time to build Australia.

Countless writers and thinkers have leaned on the framing of this country as lucky. It is powerful. It is apt. What Australia is feeling echoes what many countries are reckoning with in the modern age.

Momentum from early group chats and pub meetups now evolves into this formal launch of a new movement for all Australians who believe we can and must do better. Today we establish our base camp, tomorrow, we start our ascent.

Build Australia champions value creation through hard yakka, entrepreneurship, creativity, industry, and a thread which ties it all together. We back the removal of barriers toward these ends — regulatory, cultural or in mindset. We call for investment into new research, invention and capacity. We want moonshot projects to believe in, jobs that offer equity and ownership, and a culture of abundance and shared prosperity.

Doing this will require a rejection of the tall poppy syndrome that has grudgingly become commonplace. Step change can’t happen in bite-sized pieces. Look up, be proud, and strive!

Small N nationalism

To feel pride and gratitude for your home and what it represents to you is human. It’s unfortunate that some in our society see being patriotic in a negative light. Patriotism does not mean carte blanche support for a government’s policies, or superiority in a relative sense. That’s where a line should be drawn.

What patriotism looks like varies enormously depending on who you are and how you got here. Someone whose family has been on this land for generations experiences it differently from someone who arrived last year and has chosen to call Australia home. Both are legitimate. All belong.

Because the concept of love of one’s homeland has become tainted and politicised, Build Australia is explicitly non-partisan.

The tone of this movement will signal certain things in contemporary shorthand. There will be critics who attempt to file it away as part of something it is not. We expect that. Build Australia is independent, non-profit, and vigilant in maintaining our political independence. Our platform welcomes divergent and conflicting voices. We celebrate transparent and open debate.

Finding common ground

The sentiment that Australia is heading in the wrong direction is shared across the ideological spectrum. Frustrations at the slippage in living standards, zero-sum debates dominating our media, and the rise of new political factions capitalising on the moment, all point to the same underlying restlessness.

We all agree on the disease, but propose very different cures. At Build Australia, we don’t pretend to have all the answers. Solutions should be debated freely and without ideological gatekeeping. We’re building the venue for that debate, and will do so alongside other wonderful organisations and individuals with similar values and missions.

As technological change accelerates and geopolitical norms fracture us into a newly multi-polar world, some questions genuinely don’t have answers. This however, is not a reason to stop asking them. It is the pessimism, doomerism and inaction that are leading to a terminal diagnosis for our nation.

What we do and how you can help

Build Australia is a member-driven organisation. Our ambition is to influence culture, and the narratives around Australian potential and its place in the world. At the core of these aims are people.

You may be asking “so what does Build Australia actually do?” In practical terms, we do three things.

We celebrate and promote Australian innovation, creativity, and ambition through content, data and software projects, and discourse. We bring people together through events, programs and activities focussed on entrepreneurs, builders, creatives, and others who believe in Australia. We champion shifts in society, policy and law that remove barriers to productive enterprise, entrepreneurship and cultural leadership.

Embedded in this project’s launch is a call out for participation. A call against the culture wars and the zero-sum thinking that comes with them. A call for genuine earnestness, collaboration, and ambition.

Here are some ways to get involved:

• Sign up — Join our email list to stay across our activity and programs.
• Spread the word — How many degrees of separation exist between 27 million Australians? If someone in your network may resonate with what we’re building, start a conversation. The more people we connect and energy we muster, the better.
• Submit an essay — If you have something to say about Australian ambition and values, bring it in. This is a platform for education and ideas, and we’d love to hear from you.
• Contribute to a project — We’re always looking for new ways to visualise and analyse what matters to Australia. If you want to build or submit a project idea, get in touch.

Thank you for being with us. Let’s Build.