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What is political short-termism?
60 Plays1 month ago
Welcome to the first episode of What's In It For You! We are diving straight in...
This episode, we break down the concept of short-termism and unpack how it's driving crises like cost of living, climate change and housing unaffordability.
And for some spice, because who doesn't love a sports saga, we also discuss the recent NBA Luka Dončić trade controversy, demonstrating that short-termism isn't just a policy problem, but a deeply ingrained societal one too.
Our guest for this episode is our Managing Director, Taylor Dee Hawkins, who brings us insights direct from her week up Canberra where the For Our Future campaign has officially launched, aiming to tackle the very behaviour that is producing all these disasters we face: political short-termism.
Keen to learn more? Follow us on our socials @foundationsfortomorrow and @forourfuturecampaign
Ready to take action? Sign our petition here (soon moving to the FFT website!).
What's In It For You is a Foundations For Tomorrow podcast, produced as part of the 2025 For Our Future campaign. It is hosted by Clare Beaton-Wells and Anna Bezzu.
Our podcast is recorded on the lands of the Cammeraygal people of NSW Australia, and on Sápmi country, the land of the Sámi people of Sweden where one of us is currently studying. We acknowledge Indigenous elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded.
Resources and initiatives mentioned:
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Transcript
Introduction and Acknowledgment
00:00:00
Speaker
This podcast is recorded on the traditional lands of the Kamaragal people in New South Wales, Australia, and on the land of the Sami people of Saatmi country in Sweden. As co-hosts, we pay our respects to Indigenous elders past and present, and acknowledge that intergenerational leadership and long-term practices of stewardship have been cornerstones of Indigenous cultures for thousands of years.
Hosts' Background and Passion
00:00:28
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the podcast where we two young, passionate Aussie women are breaking down why young people say in policy really matters and what's in it for them when it comes to future generations policy and the Australian federal election this year.
00:00:43
Speaker
I'm Claire Beaton-Wells, a former political staffer, future generations champion and policy innovator. I'm passionate about inspiring young people to lead the charge when it comes to addressing some of our most complex challenges.
00:00:55
Speaker
And I'm Anna Bezu, a corporate galley bridging business and impact, helping young people connect their everyday choices to long-term change in society. So today, it's our very first episode, so welcome.
Youth-led Campaign and Tunnel Vision Check
00:01:08
Speaker
We're going to talk about something that we find incredibly exciting, which is a youth-led campaign in Australia that launched just the other week. And no, it's not the 2025 Australian federal election, if that's what you were thinking.
00:01:20
Speaker
No, it isn't. But first, let's kick off something a little bit more invigorating. Absolutely. So before we dive into the juicy policy and politicking that I know is keeping all of you up and restless at night, we're going to establish a little episode tradition of starting with a tunnel vision check.
00:01:36
Speaker
That is where we check the latest examples of short-sightedness and myopia we've seen from leaders and in society in general. And since everyone here is basically new, this being the first episode and what's not, I think we should break that down.
00:01:50
Speaker
What is the tunnel vision check, Anna? Glad you asked Claire. So politics and big decisions, they can often feel like background noise, right? Like something happening over there while the rest of us are just trying to get through the week.
00:02:02
Speaker
But short term thinking, it's not just a policy problem. It is everywhere. It's those companies that are chasing quick profits instead of lasting impact. It's those governments that are making decisions that are more of a band-aid than addressing the root cause of the issue.
00:02:17
Speaker
and listen, it's also us like you and I and the listener who makes short term decisions, i.e. the 1am stream scrolling when you have work the next day and sleep is
The Importance of Long-term Thinking
00:02:28
Speaker
important and it should be prioritized.
00:02:30
Speaker
So this week we're actually going to share about examples of what we believe is short termism that caught our attention that if we were to think differently and approach them more from a future generations of future focused way of thinking, things would have looked different.
00:02:44
Speaker
So we're here to ask what if leaders stop chasing the quick win and play the long term game instead? Right, because while this podcast might be mainly about policy and politics, we want to show you that short-term thinking does not just infect politicians.
00:02:57
Speaker
In fact, it infiltrates nearly every aspect of our lives at home, at work, and in society in general. And for those who love a metaphor to break things down, because who doesn't love a metaphor, right?
00:03:11
Speaker
but i I love a good metaphor. good think encapsulates just how they human proclivity for short-term thinking operates so i was reading this book recently it's by the australian author roman kasnaric and it's called a good answer he told this concept of our marshmallow and our acorn brain so Essentially what that is, he says, is the fact that we are all wired with both a marshmallow and an acorn brain.
00:03:39
Speaker
The marshmallow brain is the side of our brain that lacks the instant rewards and that immediate gratification. It's totally exploited by social media platforms, which give us those dopamine hits by getting us to constantly click and scroll and swipe, which I think is something that is just honestly so brilliantly depicted in the famous film, The Social Dilemma.
00:03:59
Speaker
But the name itself, marshmallow brain, it actually comes from the famous psychology experiment, which was the marshmallow test done in the 1960s, where children who resisted eating a marshmallow for 15 minutes were rewarded with a second one.
00:04:12
Speaker
I remember, I feel like I saw something up like of this on YouTube with um children eating mushrooms. Anyway, i don't want to ruin it, but like can you actually tell us like what this experiment is all about? Yeah, totally. Okay, so so picture this.
00:04:25
Speaker
You're a little kid, like take way back to those childhood days, and someone puts, they sit you down and they put a big yummy marshmallow right in front of you. But then they tell you, you can either eat it now or you can wait a little while and then you get two marshmallows instead.
00:04:42
Speaker
So this was the famous 1960s marshmallow experiment, which tested whether kids could resist that urge for instant gratification and hold out for a longer, bigger reward. What it turns out though, is that the majority couldn't.
00:04:56
Speaker
And what this experiment showed was that those who could resist the urge for a marshmallow or rather quick fix were more likely to grow up and be able to achieve their longer term, bigger, more ambitious goals.
00:05:08
Speaker
Right. Okay. I am getting a little bit triggered by this because it definitely speaks to me and my inner child that will take the marshmallow. And my wise, mature woman, I am trying to tell her to take charge and say no to the marshmallow.
Acorn Brain and Long-term Goals
00:05:24
Speaker
Well, in my case, it's chocolate. But what is it for you? What's your vice? Chocolate. Yeah. i like I used to love marshmallows when I was younger, but I think I've grown up. I think my taste has hopefully got a little bit more sophisticated. For me, it's definitely dark chocolate, though. Nice. Yeah. yeah Yeah, I'm obsessed.
00:05:41
Speaker
Chocolate in all forms. So I get that. So marshmallow, you default to just impulse, basically. What is the acorn? What's the other side of this experiment then? Okay, so alongside the marshmallow brain, we also have, as Roman says, these long-term acorn brains, which are located in the frontal lobe just above our eyes, especially known in the area as – totally going to get this right this time – the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
00:06:08
Speaker
And this is... Damn, okay. you got it, right? That was good. You nailed it. I'm not a scientist. um this This is a relatively new part of our neuroanatomy, which is just really, oh, so young, just mere 2 million years old.
00:06:22
Speaker
And it it gives us this rare ability to think, plan, strategize over long timeframes. The acorn brain is basically what's going to enable us all to save for our pensions and to write song lists for our own funerals. It's how we built the Great Wall of China and voyaged into space. It's why we'll plant an acorn in the ground as a gift for posterity, just like in the beautiful short story, The Man Who Planted Trees.
Story of Environmental Stewardship
00:06:49
Speaker
The Man Who Planted Trees. I don't think I'm familiar with that story, Claire. Can you share a little bit more about that one? Of course. um So for me, I think this story is just really a timeless parable about the importance of environmental stewardship.
00:07:01
Speaker
it's It's an allegory for the need to think long term if we want to address and prevent crisis like climate change. The story itself, it's about a solitary shepherd. he like He's living in the French Alps, it's the 20th century, and he decides...
00:07:16
Speaker
He's going to plant 100,000 tree seeds over three years for what, as I understand it to be literally no other purpose other than for want of bringing to life a barren and deserted land that is in dying need of a forest.
00:07:29
Speaker
I love that. And I think that this is really speaking to what long-term vision is all about and how we really need to operate in a way that we think about the the future prosperity and rather than just, again, what we think right now circumstance demands.
00:07:46
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. It's all about planning for our long-term future needs and for those who come after but after us and setting up the conditions for future generations to thrive and and survive, really.
00:07:57
Speaker
But I'd like to just, I think we should relate this back to our tunnel vision check because that's what we set out to do, right? So what we're essentially trying to show you through this is that if we're actually going to tackle long-term challenges like climate change or economic inequality, we're we're going to need to tap into this unrivaled talent that we have, that we possess as long-term planning extraordinaires. We need to recognize that we're not just short-term marshmallow snatchers, but actually long-term acorn planters.
NBA Trade and Short-term Thinking
00:08:26
Speaker
So let's do our first tunnel check, shall we? Anna, would you like to start us off? Yes, I will kick us off. So Claire, bear with me. This may feel like a bit of a weird example, but I'm trying to tie in something that perhaps our audience feels very comfortable and familiar with, or I've seen quite um popularly like being run on the news cycle, which is a trade that occurred within the and NBA. I know like basketball and future focused policy, but like stay with me. i promise this all makes sense. So The NBA trade, it's honestly caused more drama than the season finale of maths. Like this guy called Luka Doncic was a Mavericks franchise cornerstone. Mavericks is a team that operate in the NBA and they play for Dallas.
00:09:10
Speaker
So he was a cornerstone who seemed to be unceremoniously shipped off to a Lakers in exchange for an aging basketball player called Anthony Davis. So the backlash was nuclear. Like fans were seething.
00:09:24
Speaker
Analysts were flabbergasted, and even those who are usually out of tune with the NBA trade gossip suddenly became armchair experts dissecting the chaos. Now, I'm not one to really fall into this sort of, you know, hype, but I was actually really invested because it just seemed like there was something deeper going on. And in fact, once I kind of made sense of it all and my analytical brain just did its thing, I realized that this was really masterclass in how Short-term gains when where they're prioritized really do lead to disaster.
00:09:55
Speaker
So this is why i really wanted to share about it. So the whole intent and the reason that I think it was a really interesting case study was three main things. So the first was short-term thinking over long-term vision.
00:10:08
Speaker
So the guy that was involved in the trade was the general manager of ah the Mavericks called Nico Harrison. And he did what many decision makers do. He focused on the immediate trade rather than the future health of the team. So instead of thinking about how his star player, Luka Dungic, who's a young guy, i think correct me if I'm wrong, but he's about 25, 26.
00:10:28
Speaker
how he could shape the franchise for the next decade, he got caught up in the moment and made a look and made a move that looked like a win right now, but could spell disaster down the track. So he probably had this like idea and this fantasy that this other player, Anthony Davis would be a really strong player to include in his team, but that really overlooked the long-term thinking. And in fact, he actually said something, Nico Harrison, the GM said something where he says, I think about the future three to four years into the future, 10 to 15 years. i can't even fathom essentially words to the effect.
00:11:04
Speaker
Gosh, I think that, I mean, that just demonstrates so, like, picture perfectly, like, the inability of humans to conceive of more than five years ahead.
00:11:15
Speaker
Honestly, I think about, like, 10 years ago, and I'm like, I can't believe that was a whole decade. I mean, when I was 18, I would think, oh, a whole decade, oh, my gosh, I've got so much time. But really, yeah it it isn't that long. And if if if we're only considering, again, short-term cycles,
00:11:32
Speaker
we're going to be making these decisions that really put us potentially in a good position now, but terrible position long term. So second point that I wanted to make around this whole trade and this whole and NBA controversy that has been occurring is that Nico Harrison made this trade behind closed doors and there was no consult with it any other external party. So there was no real oversight, no accountability, no unbiased external parties, judgment checking his own thinking and his own biases.
00:12:05
Speaker
So again, it's again, thinking about with a lack of checks and balances, Decisions can be made where we don't consciously bring to light the things that we don't know about, our biases, our inability to think long term, our inability to assess all of the risks at play. And we saw this with the decision and the fallout from this decision very evidently, that when those decisions are made in silo without proper consultation,
00:12:32
Speaker
human error can jump in and again ah reference to this case Harrison himself said he had to make the decision with only one other person he had to keep it really tight because he didn't want to risk this being leaked to the media so point number three is there was no clear exit strategy for fallout the other thing that occurs when we are making impulsive decisions is that we now have to live with those decisions and again to bring it back to this NBA trade They are now in a bit of mess reputationally. It's really caused a lot of resentment and upset from a very loyal and diehard fan base.
00:13:07
Speaker
From operational perspective, their tickets have gone down. There's, again, fallout. There's a lot of issue that they may be facing financially from this decision. So it's like without proper guardrails in place to protect against reckless decision-making, we don't we don't know how to...
00:13:26
Speaker
navigate through crises in a really powerful manner and we prevent yeah we prevent um we we can't prevent these governance failures that leave messes to clean up so we it's this is about avoiding disaster and it's about ensuring that the decisions that we're making today actually serve the people of tomorrow and we're not just serving the immediate short term because again from a long-term lens This doesn't sound like a good play.
00:13:54
Speaker
So I'm trying to bring this from the basketball court to the boardroom to the government house. To House of Representatives. Everywhere. In Australia. Exactly. To our own bedroom, right? The decisions that we make at our own, in our own homes. Like this is all applicable. Yeah. Honestly, short-termism is none other than a recipe for pure disaster if you are thinking about it through the lens of the NBA.
00:14:19
Speaker
um But, yeah, I mean, you did such a good job of that. I really don't feel like i need to add anything more to
Accountability in Policy
00:14:24
Speaker
this. But I was just wanting to relate it back to policy in Australian politics a little bit. And you've just drawn there such a striking parallel to how, you know, we have a system in Australia with a lack of checks and balances to ensure that we're making the right decisions and to ensure that we're consulting the right people and the experts when we make them. And for me, what that just reminds me of is how there needs to be some sort of accountability mechanism, some structure, some responsibility for long for policymakers to consider long-term impacts.
00:14:57
Speaker
And I know i was the same as you. If you're assuming right now that like, why Why do we need to ingrain this kind of responsibility? Like, shouldn't this just be plain, logical, common sense that when leaders make decisions, of course, they think about how they'll affect future generations of Australians.
00:15:12
Speaker
Of course, they'll do that. I understand. That might provoke frustration for you if it's the first time that you're hearing that actually, that's not how policymakers operate. It's not how they think when they make decisions. They actually think very, very short term. They just think about, oh, what's this going to bring me?
00:15:29
Speaker
you know, in the next election cycle, in the next financial quarter. They don't think really more than three to four years down the track. But I want to just say that this example that Anna has so beautifully, you know, illustrated for us, it paints a picture of how we have ended up with so many converging crises at once, like climate change, economic inequality, a cost of living crisis, housing affordability, the list goes on. It's just a product of over and over again, siloed short-term decision makers of leaders acting in isolation rather than in concert, and really ah lack of a legal requirement for leaders to be hardwired to take long-term action.
00:16:12
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And the thing is, I really want to point to what it could look like because I'm, you know, as much as problem wear is important, I'm curious, this is your forte, Claire, are there actually role models, case studies or other countries that are doing something about this and are actually addressing entrenched short term thinking in their decision making?
00:16:32
Speaker
Yes, there actually are. There is right now, or yeah at least what's been building i in my observation for the last 10 years or so, there's a global wave of countries who are innovating to protect the long-term wellbeing of future generations, that is, people who are yet to be born, and recognising that the decisions that they as political leaders make today actually stand to have very significant outsized impact upon those who are not yet born.
00:17:01
Speaker
And this movement, it spans from the UK and Finland to Singapore and Barbados, all the way across to the UAE and even just across the ditch in New Zealand.
00:17:12
Speaker
The global leader, I think, in this movement is it has to be Wales. You know, in 2015, they were the ones to pioneer this legislation. They established the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act.
International Examples of Long-term Policies
00:17:24
Speaker
And what that created was a national wellbeing framework. it like It set up long-term wellbeing goals for the country to consider. It put a duty on public bodies to consider long-term impact and to work towards those wellbeing goals. And perhaps most significantly, it established this completely new position of an independent statutory commissioner for future generations, whose Like, if I can sum it up in a nutshell, their job is but like their day job is basically to hold public decision making bodies like like the Treasury we have here in Australia the Department of Education accountable.
00:17:59
Speaker
And to ensure that when they do make decisions, they actually consult the public. They secure democratic buy in and. that those decisions are properly evaluated to assess how will they shape the future of the people and and their opportunities.
00:18:13
Speaker
And I think what's exciting to me about this is there's not just like a global wave of countries who are innovating and taking it upon themselves to entrench more long-term ways of thinking into their governance.
00:18:24
Speaker
There's actually global mandate now to do this. um So this global movement is actually supported by and international mandate for states to shift to more long-term models of governance and to institutionalize those protections for future generations against short-termism.
00:18:40
Speaker
Just last year, the United Nations, when they got together for this this historic summit of the future, they adopted a declaration on future generations and not to be policy nerd or anything like that, but I just get so excited about one particular article, article number 28, which requires, it has this requirement for states to take a whole of government approach to policy coordination, design and implementation and actually safeguard the needs of future generations. And For anyone who's not a policy buff, just like I am, in other words, what that means is countries now have international responsibilities and commitments to break free of these short-term cycles and actually use their long-term acorn brains to make and evaluate policy.
Intergenerational Inequity
00:19:26
Speaker
So this is the whole reason that I'm so excited and invigorated by this conversation of really entrenching long-term thinking into policy and decisions because it really matters. You know, we've seen the marshmallow example. We've seen what it looks like when in pop cultural references, we default to short-termism, but we've also also seen this global movement where it's showcasing that there is a real opportunity for things to look very different for us in the future.
00:19:53
Speaker
And so with this election coming up in Australia, I believe it's a chance to institutionalize more long-term ways of thinking here in our backyard and to make intergenerational inequality a central election issue.
00:20:06
Speaker
Absolutely, Anna. And I think, hold on, just just in the interest of breaking things down, can you actually explain, that's a big term, intergenerational inequity. Can you tell us a bit more about what actually is that?
00:20:17
Speaker
Yeah. So really good point. Cause I, my brain likes to kind of make sense of things through like a more simple analogy. So, and think about it like a relate race where some teams start with a really big headstart while others begin far behind. And so get like, imagine a race with some runners are given top tier running shoes, a clear track, a coach. Uh, but then the other team, they're given heavy backpacks, worn out shoes and obstacles.
00:20:43
Speaker
Of course the one runners who start with the advantages are more likely to finish and finish strong. Whereas those with a disadvantage are so struggling to catch up no matter how hard they try.
00:20:54
Speaker
So essentially if if we were to kind of bring it back to us, it's like, As our generation, if we start making decisions from a short-term gratification, impulsive lens and electoral cycle kind of way of doing things, of course, yes, we may benefit us, but what about the generation after us? We're kind of giving them a heavy backpack and really worn out shoes and we're kind of passing down all of the challenges and the burdens to them whilst we're happy days and, you know, nothing, nothing, you know, is weighing us down.
Historic Power Shift in Elections
00:21:26
Speaker
yeah.
00:21:27
Speaker
It's a really important thing to think about. Yeah, absolutely. So I think it means, yeah, it's like, it's all about ensuring, if I understand that correctly, that like our generation, young people, but also tomorrow's generations too, can actually enjoy the same standards of living and prosperity that were enjoyed by our parents and our grandparents.
00:21:46
Speaker
So yeah, I think what's also for me just like so exciting about and so momentous about doing this podcast now is that ahead of this election, it's really, it's shaping up to be quite historic. It's the it's going to be the first election in Australian history where young people hold the power.
00:22:05
Speaker
For the very first time in what is quite frankly quite a seismic generational shift, When we all go to the ballot box this year, our generation, Generation Z, and also millennials are going to outnumber baby baby boomers.
00:22:19
Speaker
And with this dramatic power shift, we just wanted to create a space where young people can come on and and get empowered to claim their seat at the grownups table. We wanted it to be a platform where young people can gain the knowledge and the confidence to not just accept this political system,
00:22:35
Speaker
as it is, but to have the tools to actually shape it for the better so that when policies and political decisions are made, they work for everyone, not just our parents, not just our grandparents.
00:22:49
Speaker
Exactly. And speaking of that, we want to say please stay tuned because coming up after this very short break – we will finally be introducing this exciting new youth-led campaign that we named up at the start of this episode and gave absolutely no detail about, which demonstrates just how young people can do that, how they can get engaged in politics and how they can shape policies for a better future.
00:23:22
Speaker
Okay, welcome back. So time to talk about this exciting big campaign that launched this week. Claire, would you like to make the announcement? I would love to make the announcement. So organization, Foundations for Tomorrow, or FFT for short, for the last four years has been building a national movement for intergenerational fairness, and it is peaking with the For Our Future campaign that launched just this week, or at least when we're recording this.
00:23:50
Speaker
And For Our Future is all about what we've basically been talking about this episode, putting long-term policymaking at the top of the national political agenda in Australia. It's about ensuring that long-term solutions, not quick fixes, are what shape Australia's future and that future generations of Australians aren't left to foot the bill of problems left by today's leaders and their short-term decision-making.
00:24:14
Speaker
In a nutshell, this campaign is championing Australians to ask for the bill because we know that fairness isn't just for today. It's it's for tomorrow as well. And we know, you know, as young people who've grown up in the age of poly crisis, the future doesn't wait for us.
00:24:31
Speaker
And so why why we?
Launch of Foundations for Tomorrow
00:24:33
Speaker
We think that We're just so passionate about the fact that it's finally time for there to be leadership that looks beyond the next election and plans for the next generation.
00:24:44
Speaker
This is so exciting. And so with the launch of the campaign collided, it also collided with a pretty historic moment, didn't it, Claire? Yeah, it did. So the launch of this campaign collided with the introduction of the Wellbeing of Future Generations bill into the Australian Parliament by Dr. Sophie Scamps MP, seconded by Mrs. Bridget Archer MP. And this legislation is all about...
00:25:07
Speaker
what this campaign is championing, requiring leaders to consider the long-term impact of their decisions on our future. I just want to say, before we go any further, I want to give a huge shout out to Sophie and Bridget for their unwavering leadership and vision in advancing this agenda. It's just been incredible. And honestly, for anyone who knows us well, they'll understand the significance of this moment.
00:25:28
Speaker
For us, the Wellbeing of Future Generations bill represents the product of four years of tireless advocacy and collaboration by FFT, the Intergenerational Fairness Coalition, the Australian Parliamentary Group for Future Generations, which were both co-founded and convened by FFT, and FFT.
00:25:44
Speaker
In a nutshell, really, it's legislation that would just fundamentally change the way we make political decisions and policy in Australia. And we don't want to go too much into the legislation itself in this episode because we will be doing a whole deep dive on that in another episode.
00:25:58
Speaker
But just so we don't leave you guys hanging, we will give you a bit of context as to where the For Our Future campaign and this bill have actually come from. And to do that, we actually have a very special guest with us right here joining on the first episode of the podcast today.
00:26:11
Speaker
She is our incredible managing director for Foundations for Tomorrow, somebody who I have had first hand witnessed the tenacity, the grit, the dedication to creating a more just and equitable future for Australia, the wonderful Taylor D.
Journey and Advocacy of FFT
00:26:26
Speaker
Hawkins. It's an absolute privilege and honor to have you here. Thank you so much for joining. I know it's been an absolutely wild and chaotic week, so we are so honored that you're here with us today.
00:26:36
Speaker
Such a wonderfully kind and formal ah introduction from someone I know all too well, but thank you so much and I'm really excited to be here. I'm so excited to have you. um So Taylor, you just spent the last week running around like madness in Canberra, coordinating the launch of this incredible campaign and seeing through the introduction of the Wellbeing of Future Generations bill. We've said a bit about this campaign already, but as the mastermind behind all of it,
00:27:02
Speaker
Can you please tell us a bit more about how did we get to this moment in Australia? Give us the FFT spiel, the journey. Oh, FFT spiel. I'll try and give you four years and two minutes. um But mastermind, overly kind or or concerning. I'm not sure which one we'll call that. But um look, Foundations for Tomorrow was started four years ago with myself and two wonderful co-founders. Big shout out to Bianca and Holly.
00:27:23
Speaker
And we originally started Foundations for Tomorrow to conduct a national youth consultation. So we wanted to hear from 10,000 young people from across the country today. And yes, when I told people we had that goal, I got many people looking at me with the concerned faces that I have seen many times since then. But we successfully did that and we were incredibly proud. It took us 10 months. We engaged 42 different partners to make it possible.
00:27:45
Speaker
And it's something that I'm still incredibly proud of to this day. However, we then traipsed our way into Parliament House expecting the world to change because the youth of Australia had raised their voice. And nobody cared. Sadly, we did not get the response that we wanted. The system demonstrated that it was not set up to respond to the voices of young people when through grassroots movement, they raised their voices, they express their needs.
00:28:09
Speaker
And so that set myself and my two wonderful co-founders on sort of nine month journey of frustration and tenacity. We made a spreadsheet with every country in the world on it and worked through one at a time to see, you know, what is this country doing about intergenerational fairness about the short termism that's baked into the way that our country runs, because that was one of the biggest themes that we saw.
00:28:30
Speaker
Yes, a lot of the focuses in the consultation we ran was mental health, it was climate, it was housing, but what came through in the qualitative submission, so what the young people themselves wrote was, I don't have faith that my leader is taking care of my future.
00:28:44
Speaker
And so in doing that global mapping, we discovered these incredible initiatives from the Singapore Center for Strategic Futures to the committee for the future in Finland to the future generations commissioner in Wales, and some of the great work happening, you know, across Africa and in the UAE as well.
00:29:00
Speaker
And we realized that there's this incredible burgeoning movement for future generations policy around the world. Now at that time, which is now three years ago, this was not yet a trending or cool conversation. And so I then became the mad woman running around parliament house, trying to talk to politicians about future generations policy, which I can tell you at the time,
00:29:17
Speaker
Had them giving me some of those, once again, concerned looks on their faces of why I thought that was a priority when our present day was in such disarray. But over the ensuing couple of years, it's really gained traction. And I think that a lot of that is because, you know, the imperative has increased.
00:29:33
Speaker
The world now really recognizes that we need to do something about our future because the state of our present. It's also become a big point of conversation with, I know you mentioned earlier in the episode, like the UN really focusing on this as well, intergenerational fairness being recognised by our PM as something that needs to be super important.
00:29:50
Speaker
And so we, I believe, also have contributed to that becoming a more recognised or popular thing to talk about in Australia with setting up the Parliamentary Friendship Group ah for Future Generations, which is basically ah group of MPs and senators, that you get to bring together, you convince them that you want them to be part of this club, and then you get the right to hold events in parliament house and.
00:30:10
Speaker
Educate them on this topic or facilitate dialogues. And so that's what we did for two years to develop these champions for future generations policy. And alongside that, we built a civil society movement. So that is nonprofits and charities and advocacy bodies who really believe in this as well.
00:30:25
Speaker
And by doing that, we created this network of political champions, of advocates, of academics, who all really backed this and who informed all of the elements that then created the For Our Future policy brief, which maps our existing policies on this topic in Australia and proposes the path forward that really um made a big contribution to the drafting of the Wellbeing of Future Generations bill that was introduced this week.
00:30:51
Speaker
Four years in two minutes. i That was pretty good. I think that's bravo. Yeah. Close to it. Close to it. round of Really round of applause. I, goodness, um I don't quite. There's, there is just so much in that because I, as I said, I had firsthand witnessing of all of this and she's, Taylor's done a very wonderful job of condensing. a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that explanation. It was not as simple as like, you know, I was, you know, it's having these conversations, it then flowed onto this thing. And then listening, what I witnessed in my sort of perception was a lot of rejection, lot of knockback, a lot of redirection.
00:31:30
Speaker
My question is like, how the heck did you get that level of perseverance and determination to keep going despite against everything. It didn't seem like this was ah going to manifest until it did.
00:31:44
Speaker
Look, I think that there's two answers to that question. One is a personality profile thing and wonderful Anna, you've known me for many years. And so better or for worse, tenacity is a you know baseline trait that I have.
00:31:56
Speaker
um I think it's also just, you know, you can look at the research and the fact that the best way to address the anxiety that so many young people feel about the state of our world is to be part of the solution is to do something about it.
00:32:08
Speaker
And the level of stress that I feel when I think about the state of our future is pretty overwhelming. And the only way that I have found to find that sense of peace and joy in life with the current state of things is to feel like I am hard in the paint, doing everything that I can to shift the system so that we can actually have a future that we all feel included in and can feel really proud of.
00:32:33
Speaker
That is just heartwarming. Wow. I want to understand a bit more, Taylor, when the bill was introduced, when Sophie gave her spiel in parliament, when she, ah no, it was Bridget, when Bridget name checked Foundations for Tomorrow, how did that make you feel?
00:32:48
Speaker
I nearly cried. My gorgeous husband was sitting next to me and like squeezed my thigh and that nearly pushed me over the edge. um Yeah, I think it's, we've spent four years trying to make some impact and it feels not just like the culmination of four years of the work of me and the over 50 volunteers that we've now had who've come through our team, but also i cannot even count the number of random people who I reached out to on LinkedIn or emailed randomly or somehow cyber stalked and convinced them to talk to us and who gave us guidance. And now, you know, we have these bleacher seats in the chamber, like full of stakeholders of all different walks of life who were there to see this come to life. And that's not actually that common.
00:33:31
Speaker
um with private members bills to have like such a stacked audience in that way. So I think that's such a reflection of the leadership of Sophie and Bridget, both of whom I feel so fortunate to have worked with and have been so generous and kind to myself and to the team.
00:33:44
Speaker
um But also, yeah, just proud.
Empowering Young Political Engagement
00:33:48
Speaker
Can I jump in and and ask Taylor, like I, again, going back to sort of that demonstration of tenacity, I think you've really role modeled what that looks like. And in order to use that in a productive manner and really influence change, I would love to understand, like, what is your, i guess, vision for, you know, our generation? How do we not potentially having as much, you know, a clear pathway forward to engage with politics? Like, what is your vision for young people to really, know,
00:34:18
Speaker
use their voice and use that passion and also sort of channel that stress productively? How do you see that sort of moving forward? That's being so complimentary to me. Ask me a mean question next. You're making make my head too big. um Look, it really comes back to what I said before, which is the best way to feel good about the state of the world is to do something about it and be part of creating the future. And I think the way that I would encourage people to digest that is,
00:34:48
Speaker
Do it in the way that suits you, that works for you. You know, my longest childhood friend, she's a great protester and she will do like eight hour protest walks. And both because, you know, I've had a bunch of hip surgeries. I'm not great with crowds. That's never going to be my thing.
00:35:03
Speaker
I do it sometimes, but I'm never the person who sees it all the way through the eight hours, but like build an organization, do systemic change, develop policy ideas like that I can do in spades. And so I think it's looking within yourself and saying, what are my strengths?
00:35:16
Speaker
What can I offer? And also realizing that in such a polarized society, when frankly, I think one of the biggest barriers we face is the loss of our own humanity and our connection with each other. It can be a truly revolutionary act to commit yourself to every day with each person you engage with being a force for the betterment of our community by tightening those community ties, by making the people you engage with feel seen, heard, and understood.
00:35:40
Speaker
And that moves up in our society. That creates this strong foundation that builds strong democracies, that supports strong institutions, and that supports hope. And that really, like, hope is the flywheel that we need for the future that can create all this positive change.
00:35:56
Speaker
I love that, and I'm so inspired by that. And I think that, again, it's just important two For me, what I've witnessed being a friend is just knowing that it's even possible. It's even possible that my voice would matter. It's even possible but that my actions could have such a notable, tangible ripple outward effect. And I've seen that with you. I've been galvanized by your enthusiasm and your passions. It made me want to reconsider I guess like bringing it to a micro level of like my decisions that I make as an individual, my impulsivity and my short termism that I already see within myself. And then I can also see that at a, at a bigger lens through the, you know, the political landscape. And so it's been incredibly inspiring and it's just great to know that people like you are leading the charge, but also that you are empowering us to also claim our seat at the table and use our voice so that we can, you know, influence our future, which I'm,
00:36:49
Speaker
very passionate about. I now say this fact way too often and I'm not proud of it, but I did not know the difference between an MP and a minister when I was 25 years old and I had a full high school education and a law degree under my belt.
00:37:00
Speaker
Like this, it is okay to not understand the system. It's okay to choose to learn it or it's okay to choose another path to make your impact. Like I just, the biggest thing that I would say is if you look at the system and you go, wow, that doesn't feel like it's for me, challenge everyone to think about, okay, if you don't see yourself there, that's even more reason you need yourself there.
00:37:18
Speaker
And then think, okay, what's the way that I can own this and make it my own? Like, as you know, before we hit record, we were talking about like, I have a quirky leadership style at times. And so how can you create a space where your quirks become strengths?
00:37:31
Speaker
I think that's also just, yeah, the solution. I mean, the fact not knowing the difference between a minister and an MP at 25 actually is not these days all of all that unusual. ah There was data the other day that just came out that showed there are record low levels of understanding amongst young people growing up in school today about civics and citizenship and just how in general society and democracy work. So i think it's just, yeah, exactly as you've been saying, bringing some humanity back into this, bringing some compassion to it and actually just empowering people to feel like this is a safe space to learn.
00:38:05
Speaker
And so with that in mind, with all of that hope and inspiration and humanity you've brought to this conversation, I'd like, I guess I'd like you to tell our listeners and this this isn't a mean question, this isn't a hard one, I'm sorry, don't have any of those ah in me left.
00:38:19
Speaker
um What do young people have to be excited about with this campaign? What's what's coming up? What young people have to be excited about is that for the first election in Australian history, we hold the power.
00:38:30
Speaker
And this is a fact that I've now seen in so many different articles and heard on so many podcasts, but in the event that this is the first time someone is hearing it, we now outnumber baby boomers for the first time ever. That should represent a fundamental shift in the way that policy is done and the tone in which the conversation is held. Because when I think about every conversation that I have with young people, yes, we have different things that we want. We're not a monolith. I'm not trying to claim that at all, but we have a hope and an aspiration that politics can be done differently and that the politicking can be reduced for the sake of good policy that can actually turn our world around.
00:39:02
Speaker
And so I think the hope that we can hold is that that is possible because we do hold such a big amount of power. And then I would just say, if you're feeling hopeless, you know what, with the stuff that's going on, fair enough, I'm not here to take the validity of that feeling away, but the research shows that the best thing you can do is get involved. And so that's why the For Our Future campaign is here is to give a pathway, give something that you can throw your weight behind that can meaningfully change the course of your life, of the people you love's lives and of our country.
00:39:30
Speaker
I don't know about anyone else. I'm feeling very hopeful. I'm feeling very inspired. I'm not going to lie. I like got a tear in my eye just because i can feel it. You know, there's something that's to be said when someone has that present energy of pure purpose and like good intention and they're they're truly embodying all of those values. is It's incredibly like you do, you feel hope. And I think that is something that we all need um in a very disenfranchised world, in a very polarized world, in a lot of can you know negativity in the media and social media taking away our attention.
00:40:03
Speaker
I really love this to realign my focus towards something that I can like actually make a difference in. Well, my time on your wonderful audio is coming to an end, but I cannot end it without saying, honestly, being on this journey with incredible young leaders like you is exactly what has made it possible. And so I think the fact that this podcast is being created and the two of you ah mixing your wonderful like creative energies and genius together, ah listeners are
Call to Action: Support Future Generations Bill
00:40:25
Speaker
in for hell of a ride. So I'll leave you there.
00:40:37
Speaker
How incredible was that? She is such an inspiration. And as I said, it's just so cool knowing her from a friendship level and seeing, like remembering that she had this conversation with me many, many years ago now about the vision to safeguard Australia's future and how she wanted to really like have a connection to young people and inspire them to make a meaningful impact to their future and she's actually manifested the vision and brought it to life and again I've seen the grit I've seen the blood so in tears I've seen all of the the rejections and the redirections that she's had encounter and counten to see this all be brought to life is just affirmation and a reminder of what's possible for each and every single one of us in our own unique way yeah I mean that's just it it's truly truly truly unique individual and
00:41:22
Speaker
For anyone, I think, that is young right now, you're a young Australian, you're feeling that sense of hopelessness. I just truly hope that, you know, by having listened to a bit of her story, like me, you can feel that sense of empowerment, you can feel that sense of hope and and inspiration that a better future is out there. It's just, you know, this is the lifeline that we're throwing. And I think it's up to us now as young people to to catch it and to latch on and to to really capitalize on this opportunity for historic change.
00:41:53
Speaker
I love that. I love that. And I think that's a really important point and that we all have ability to contribute. And actually, we've got a really great low barrier to entry way of you contributing. If you don't know where to start, we've actually got something that's kind of perfect and kind of and very easy for you to to get to. Claire, did you want to kick us off?
00:42:13
Speaker
Absolutely. So we have, with the launch of the 4-Hour Future campaign, also set up a petition to actually ask for this bill to secure a better future for all Australians. Because we know right now, no one, no one at all in the Australian government is actually legally responsible for ensuring that today's choices don't become tomorrow's burdens.
00:42:34
Speaker
And frankly, that needs to change. So through the petition, we're calling on the federal parliament to take immediate action by passing this wellbeing of future generations bill that's just been introduced to ensure that Australia's policies actually safeguard the future rather than leaving it to chance.
00:42:52
Speaker
There's no guarantee that it's going to but be passed, but by including your voice, by saying that this is important to you, we have as much, we gain as much traction as we possibly can. We create as much noise around this as possible as we possibly can. And I think that's a pretty important important first step if you haven't yet known where which direction to take. So we're really excited by it.
00:43:12
Speaker
And Claire, how do people get onto the petition? So to join this historic call for change, it's super duper easy. All you have to do is head straight down to our show notes right after listening. The link to sign the petition is just below. It's also linked in all of our socials, so pretty hard to miss.
00:43:32
Speaker
um So yeah, I would just encourage you take that opportunity to act right now as soon as you're done listening to this episode and be a part of this historic movement for change. And that's the show. if you like what's in it for you, leave us five stars on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening in.
00:43:49
Speaker
To understand what the well-being of future generations bill actually includes, stay tuned because we'll be bringing that to you very shortly in a future episode. Yes, please, please do give us a review. That would make us very happy.
00:44:02
Speaker
It would be so helpful. Right now, though, one of the best ways you can support us and the For Our Future campaign is by giving us a follow. Our socials are linked below. And of course, don't forget, sign the petition and ask for the bill. But if you want to go above and beyond, which we would be so grateful for, please head to our Instagram pages. We've got two. At for our future campaign and at foundations for tomorrow and reshare one of our posts and give us a tag hashtag what's in it for you podcast we promise to return the favor by giving you a shout out in our next episode and lastly if you want to get involved in the for our future campaign you can also just send us an email at hello at foundations for tomorrow.org letting us know you're interested we would love to hear from you I'm Anna Bezu. And I'm Claire Beaton-Wells.
00:44:46
Speaker
We'll see you next time where we'll be back to talk more about why your stay in policy matters and what's in it for you. Bye!
00:45:01
Speaker
ahma ah mama ma ah but ah but And to do that, we actually have... Great. This is going to be wonderful. if We can do this. Claire, get it together.
00:45:13
Speaker
Get it together. Okay. I'm fine. bless you. and Okay, great. o And to do that, we actually have a very special guest with us right here, joining us the incredible episode.
00:45:27
Speaker
I butchered that. I'm going to start that again. Joining us on the first episode, not the incredible episode. Okay, great. Sorry, I'm just too enthusiastic about this bloody episode. Okay, great. Awesome.