‘Many businesses, communities and investors are taking significant action on sustainability knowing it’s the right thing to do both financially and morally. However, many more tell us that they would go further if there was clarity of targets and policies, as without these, there is considerable risk and uncertainty about regulations that may be put in place in the future.’

‘I hope that the ambition for Australia isn't just to return to where we were in 2019. Because that was a country that wasn't tackling climate change, that had stagnant wages, where the economy wasn't working for people, and where community connection had been declining’

‘I think the big challenge we have regarding trust is actually very specific. It's about character-based trust. The more we can give young people the confidence that the breakdown in trust is resolved and that we're working in the public interest… the better chance we have to solve these problems.’

‘All of us, as individuals, and all of us in organizations, have an opportunity if we want to take it, to ask questions about where we can make a positive difference. Even when these questions are challenging, it is our duty as individuals to enquire and explore to see how we can make our world better.’

The Australian Government’s focus is on getting new low-emissions technologies to parity with existing approaches – or preferably even cheaper. This is a practical approach with global application.’

“As we emerge from the pandemic, we are ensuring young people have a greater say and can participate in securing Australia’s recovery and building for the future”

‘Meaningful youth engagement doesn't look like a roundtable once a year to tell young people what is in the budget for them. It actually requires a consistent two-way conversation. It requires that when young people do take to the streets and raise their voice on issues like climate change, that politicians listen rather than decry them for being out of school.’

‘We must reimagine the way young people are included in our society. We must not relegate them to being the ‘leaders of tomorrow’ and rather understand their role as leaders today so that we can include them as key contributors in helping to fix the future that they will inherit.’

‘Business is the greatest platform for change – not only in creating and innovating new products, processes and services, but also in driving societal change… It can show how change can be affected while continuing to support jobs and standards of living. It builds on a long history of business driving important ideas that shape our communities.’

‘First Nations leadership is an untapped resource… Regarding the cost of not prioritising First Nations voices, we already see it, we're in the middle of it. If you look at how much money is spent on incarceration bills, health bills, and the huge gaps in life expectancy between First Nations and other Australians, you can see we are in the middle of experiencing what that cost is.’

‘Many businesses, communities and investors are taking significant action on sustainability knowing it’s the right thing to do both financially and morally. However, many more tell us that they would go further if there was clarity of targets and policies, as without these, there is considerable risk and’

‘Be open to what's coming and what's emergent, and above all just be adaptive because the next 1000 years we’re in clean up… we're going to have to, once again, become beings that can live within that uncertainty, that can move within systems and contexts and landscapes that are constantly shifting, and find joy in that, from day to day.’

‘Regarding democracy in Australia, I worry...Whether we're talking about our parliament, or our judicial system, or the media - particularly the media in Australia. There are a lot of challenges to our institutions in terms of their ability to defend our democracy at the moment.’

‘Climate change is a real but amorphous threat… that’s why people call it a wicked problem because it defies the deep-seated cognitive triggers that happen when we think this is a threat that we need to act on.’

‘I feel proud to be Australian. But I do believe that if we don't make the right decisions now, we'll become less proud to be Australian in the future. So we need to make sure that we are always trying to do better.’

‘When it comes to inclusion and consultation, government organizations, companies and individuals need to consider ‘if the doors were closed, if people couldn't see what we were doing, would we still be doing this?’ Or are we just doing this to look a certain way to build a certain perception?’

‘The way we've been moving as a country, and as a world, has been towards greater inequality, not less. The pandemic gives us a chance to acknowledge that, reset it and steer a course that is diametrically in a different direction.’

‘Your success will always be the success of your team, and your team will only be successful if you are working with the community you are part of… What is of benefit to vulnerable members of society will be of benefit to everyone in the society.’

‘I think young people have the right to be enraged, I’m enraged, and I'm old. I'm enraged because I see so much that revolves around politics and profits. Placing this ahead of what really matters in this world, which is the people on the planet we live on.’

Something that we're missing as a community is actually what different indigenous cultures across the world can teach us in terms of community frameworks, relationships, care of the environment, sustainable economic practices and social structures.

‘As a developed nation, that’s in a leadership position, I think that waiting on the sidelines and not being proactive on climate change sends the wrong signal and is not the right thing to do… it’s truly unfortunate, I think that some of the largest economies in the world are currently playing a very nationalist and zero-sum game.’