Our nation is well equipped to make the transition. We have an abundance of natural resources like wind, natural gas, solar and geothermal.

Those of you who have spent time with Australians know that we are not given to overstatement. By nature we are laconic speakers and by conviction we are realistic thinkers.

The global economic outlook remains fragile and uncertain. Global economic imbalances persist and we must address them or risk future instability.

Any sort of political correctness needs to be swept out of the way

There are some things that can't be measured.

As our economy faces up to potential labour shortages due to our ageing population and as it moves to a new level of sophistication to compete with the rest of the world, we're going to need every Australian on board pulling their weight, rejoining the workforce, gaining new skills. Writing off individuals and communities suffering from poverty just creates a dead weight for our economy to drag along.

So in many ways for me, having lived through what I've lived through, and endured what I've endured, I've got more confidence that I can do the next bit - and there's something sustaining about that.