If you’ve read much of my blog, this won’t be a surprise to go.
I want big government, and yes, high corporate and personal taxes. Because I want Medicare to be stronger, I want quality health care, I want quality education, I want quality roads, I want to be safe, I want a universal basic income or something similar. I want our people, land and water to be protected. I want food, fibre and energy security. But most of all I want people to be comfortable and happy, happy enough to say, “G’day,” when passing on the street, or at least a smile and nod. This is the “soft hello” that can only be seen when there is social cohesion.
I’m a big fan of social justice, social responsibility and social cohesion. The world is a little less jagged.
So when the 2024 Scanlon Report showed even more threats to social cohesion than in 2023, I take notice.
And when the Grattan Institute publishes their Orange Book 2025. I take notice.
And I still want big government.
So as I am wont to do lately, I turned to ChatGPT. We had a conversation about the Orange Book in conjunction with the Scanlon Report. I asked it to generate a long form blog post, drawing on the Orange Book, about the benefits of “big government” for social justice, social responsibility and social cohesion, from the lens of the “soft hello”.
Here’s what ChatGPT had to say about it.
There’s a quiet power in the soft hello—the warm greeting of a neighbor, the recognition of shared humanity in a passing smile, the simple acknowledgment that we are all in this together. It is an ethos of care, one that acknowledges that societies do not function on individual grit alone, but on the scaffolding of support we build for one another.
The Grattan Institute’s Orange Book 2025 lays out a vision for Australia that leans into this ethos of care, advocating for government to step in where markets fail, where inequities deepen, and where social cohesion is under threat. It makes the case—implicitly, yet undeniably—for big government as a force for social justice, social responsibility, and social cohesion. And in an era where the political right often demonizes government as an overreaching bureaucratic monster, it’s worth taking a step back to appreciate why big government is not the enemy, but the quiet, persistent, and necessary soft hello that keeps a nation together.
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Social Justice: The Government as a Great Equalizer
The Orange Book 2025 highlights the need for policy interventions to ensure economic opportunity, access to quality education, and affordable healthcare—all core tenets of social justice. But let’s call it what it is: big government doing its job.
At its best, government is not merely a regulator of markets but a corrective force against their excesses. Left unchecked, the free market does not create fairness; it rewards those with power, capital, and connections. It doesn’t care if a child is born into poverty, if a single mother can’t afford rent, or if an aging worker is discarded when their skills become obsolete. That’s not malice—it’s just indifference.
Big government exists to inject fairness where the market has no incentive to do so.
Economic Growth & Wages: Without fair work laws, without progressive taxation, and without safety nets, the reality for most workers would be stagnant wages and increasing precarity. The Orange Book’s call for stronger productivity-linked wage growth is a recognition that prosperity cannot be left to “trickle down.”
Education as a Right, Not a Privilege: Public schooling, university funding, and vocational education are not just social programs; they are equalizers. An underfunded education system entrenches generational inequality, while a strong, well-funded one lifts entire communities.
Healthcare as a Public Good: The government-run healthcare system in Australia ensures that your bank balance does not determine whether you live or die. Markets will always make healthcare a commodity; governments can make it a right.
Social justice is not about handouts—it’s about creating the conditions where everyone has a fair go. And that is not something markets will ever do alone.
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Social Responsibility: The Government as a Custodian of the Future
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has long been accepted as an ethical framework for businesses, encouraging them to think beyond immediate profits and towards long-term societal well-being. But what about Governmental Social Responsibility (GSR)? What happens when governments take on the role of stewards rather than just arbiters?
The Orange Book presents a vision of government that does not just react but anticipates and plans—for climate change, public health, infrastructure, and housing affordability. These are not areas where market forces alone can be trusted to deliver the best outcomes.
Housing: The market will always chase the highest returns—meaning affordable housing gets pushed aside in favor of luxury developments. Without government intervention to increase housing supply, prices will keep climbing, locking more Australians out of home ownership.
Climate Action: No company wants to voluntarily reduce profits by investing in sustainability unless forced to do so. Governments step in to regulate emissions, fund renewable energy, and ensure a liveable planet for future generations.
Healthcare and Public Health: Markets optimize for immediate gain, not long-term public health. Governments, on the other hand, have an obligation to invest in preventative care, pandemic preparedness, and medical research—not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it reduces long-term costs and suffering.
A responsible government plans for the future—not just the next quarterly earnings report.
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Social Cohesion: The Government as the Great Unifier
There’s a reason why countries with strong welfare states and robust public institutions tend to have higher levels of social trust and cohesion. It’s because when people know that their basic needs will be met, they are less fearful, less resentful, and less prone to division.
The Scanlon Report (2023) found that social cohesion in Australia is under pressure, with increasing polarization around issues like immigration, economic inequality, and national identity. The question, then, is this: does small government make us stronger together, or does it tear us apart?
When people feel abandoned by the state, they turn on each other.
A society without public healthcare? Rich versus poor, insured versus uninsured.
A society without affordable education? Private school elitism versus struggling public schools.
A society without housing regulation? Owners versus renters, haves versus have-nots.
A society without climate action? Rural vs urban, young vs old, fossil fuels vs renewables.
Big government, done right, creates a sense of shared fate. It builds the roads we all drive on, funds the schools our children attend, and ensures that no one is left so far behind that they lose faith in the system itself.
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The False Allure of Small Government
The dream of small government is, at its core, a fantasy of self-sufficiency—one that assumes that markets will provide fairness, that private industry will prioritize ethics, and that individuals will succeed purely on merit. But history tells a different story.
Reagan’s deregulation? Led to economic inequality unseen since the Gilded Age.
Thatcher’s privatization? Dismantled public services, leaving generations struggling.
Trumpian tax cuts? Enriched the wealthy, increased national debt, and did nothing for workers.
Big government is not about handouts. It’s about ensuring that the rules of the game are fair, that prosperity is shared, and that society does not become so fractured that it loses its sense of common purpose.
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Big Government is the Soft Hello
At the end of the day, government is not some faceless machine; it is the quiet infrastructure that makes daily life possible.
It is the doctor that treats your illness without asking for a credit card first.
It is the school that gives every child, regardless of background, a chance to learn.
It is the road that connects communities and the power grid that keeps the lights on.
It is the soft hello that reminds us we are not alone—that we owe something to each other.
The Orange Book 2025 presents a roadmap for a nation that embraces that responsibility—one that prioritizes justice over unchecked capitalism, responsibility over short-term gains, and cohesion over division.
Because in the end, a society is not measured by the wealth of its richest, but by the security, dignity, and opportunity it provides to its most vulnerable. And that is a job too big for the market to handle alone.
Big government is not just necessary.
It is how we care for each other.
The Auld Skald's Fudgel 