Domestic and international tourism will have the most profound effect on our country, so too trade with our partners. Our economy will change, so will our daily lives, but Australia has done it tough before, and will get through it again, in a way that only Australia can. Together.
Externally, Australia was often referred to as the lucky country. Great lifestyle, solid economy, good people, and well placed in South East Asia for partnerships and trade. Lucky, supposedly. But this is not the full story, the whole story, the story that we should sell, or believe.
This is a country built on a unique mixture of hard and soft factors. If you think of the hard as our capabilities and the soft as our characteristics. These are the things that made this little country on a big piece of land a global powerhouse.
Who would have thought you could grow tomatoes in an arid desert? Take a bit of the soft - curiosity and tenacity, mix it with the hard science and technology, and you have the Port Augusta farm in the middle of the desert, powered by the sun and desalinated water. There is nothing lucky about that.
What about changing the way deaf patients hear the sounds of this brilliant place? Again, the soft — love (for a father), curiosity and ingenuity with biology and technology and you have the modern Cochlear implant. A gamechanger, invented during a vacation at the beach; conceptualised using a seashell to replicate the human cochlea, and grass blades, a breakthrough after years and years of heartbreaks and wins.
What about the bushfires? A force of nature unseen in modern times at this scale. Whether on the front line, or donating online, Australia banded together to fight the biggest national disaster, pre-COV-ID. Mateship and ingenuity saved homes and businesses, love and technology created one of the largest charitable donations ever seen.
COV-ID is no different. A new challenge, to face together.
This isn’t a lucky country where you have to get one over on your neighbour to survive. This is the country where you do it tough with your mate, side by side and win together. This is a terrible time, a time that no one knows what will happen, but I do think we will come out of this even more brilliant.
We will stay indoors, physically social distancing, but our social networks and friendships will keep us together. We will get sick, but our healthcare systems and the incredible individuals who drive it will heal our wounds.
This is a country that combines the best of our minds with the best of our hearts to create the brilliant, and we will do the same again, and again. Whatever the world throws at us.
At Tribal, things might change. You might not see our faces in person for a few weeks, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t here, or right there beside our partners. We have been set for remote working for a long time. In these uncertain times, we are certain about our commitment to our partners and our people