Page 462 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 21 February 2018
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But the Rusty Old Engine sighed. “I am so tired. I must rest my weary wheels. I cannot pull even so little a train as yours over the mountain. I can not. I can not. I can not.”
And off he rumbled.
The little train and all the dolls and toys were very sad.
And off he rumbled. Sounds a little bit like South Australia or Tasmania. I read on:
By now, the dolls and toys were so sad they were ready to cry.
It is a difficult time for many Australians. What we have tried before has not worked this time. We are experiencing the first generation whose standard of living will have gone backwards since the industrial revolution made it a virtual guarantee that each generation would be better off than their predecessors. The nation and, indeed, the world have been doing some hard soul-searching in recent years to work out how we might turn things around.
It got me thinking about how the ACT might represent something different, as we seem to keep on chugging along despite what might be happening elsewhere. As I continued reading I could not help but think the ACT might be the little blue engine come to save the day. As it says in the story:
But the little clown called out, “Here comes a little blue engine, a very little one, maybe she will help us.”
The very little engine came chug, chugging merrily along.
What is the matter, my friends?” she asked kindly.
“Oh, Little Blue Engine,” cried the dolls and toys. “Will you pull us over the mountain? Our engine has broken down and the good boys and girls on the other side won’t have any toys to play with or good food to eat unless you help us. Please, please help.”
“I am not very big. I have never been over the mountain. But I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.” And the Little Blue Engine hitched herself to the train.
The little blue engine is the ACT. It speaks to exactly what we as a city and as a community stand for—we think we can. We think we can deliver a prosperous community where everyone has the same opportunity, and we are willing to climb that hill even when everyone else has given up. We think we can be a leader in economic and social policy, and while we may not be the biggest and we may not have tried something before we will have a go.
When it comes to tax reform we are doing what almost every economist in the country is telling the states to do. When it comes to equality it is not simply a case that
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