Australia Needs a Nationalist Leader — Not Another Manager of Decline

A sovereign Australia must control its borders, resources, infrastructure, economy and foreign policy

By Jamie McIntyre
Chief Editor and Founder, Australian National Review
Founder, LUX Property Group

Australia does not need another career politician trained to manage decline, follow opinion polls and obey the demands of foreign interests.

It needs a genuinely nationalist leader—one who puts Australians first, restores national sovereignty and builds an independent, productive and prosperous country.

Nationalism should not mean hostility towards other nations. It should mean loyalty to one’s own nation. It means cooperating with the world while refusing to surrender control of our borders, resources, infrastructure, economy or foreign policy.

For too long, Australia has behaved like a wealthy nation determined to make itself poorer. We export vast quantities of resources, surrender strategic assets, allow essential infrastructure to fall under foreign influence and impose taxes and regulations that punish workers, entrepreneurs and local manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Australians face rising living costs, unaffordable housing, declining services and a political establishment that rarely accepts responsibility for its failures.

That must change.

Australia Should Support a Multipolar World

A nationalist Australian government would pursue an independent foreign policy based on Australia’s interests—not automatic obedience to Washington, Beijing, London or any other capital.

Australia should maintain constructive relationships with its traditional allies while expanding trade, investment and diplomatic ties across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. It should seriously examine closer engagement with BRICS and the wider emerging multipolar order.

Joining or partnering more closely with BRICS should not mean replacing dependence on one bloc with dependence on another. It should mean increasing Australia’s options, accessing new markets and refusing to be trapped in a declining unipolar system.

A sovereign country should be friendly with many nations, subordinate to none and prepared to disagree with any government when Australia’s interests demand it.

Eliminate Income Tax and Reward Productive Work

Income tax punishes people for working, producing and succeeding. Australia should develop a staged plan to eliminate personal income tax and replace it with a more efficient revenue system built around consumption, economic activity and fair returns from the nation’s natural wealth.

This would leave more money in the hands of workers and families, reward enterprise and make Australia one of the most attractive countries in the world in which to live, invest and build a business.

Such reform must be responsibly designed and phased in alongside major reductions in government waste. The objective should be simple: stop taxing productive Australians so heavily while allowing multinational interests to extract extraordinary value from resources that belong, in a broader national sense, to the Australian people.

Tax Resources Leaving Australia

Australia is one of the world’s most resource-rich countries, yet the public does not receive a fair enough return from the export of its finite natural wealth.

A nationalist government would impose an intelligent export levy or sovereign resource charge on commodities and resources leaving the country. The system should encourage domestic processing and value-adding rather than simply digging up raw materials and shipping them overseas.

The proceeds could help fund essential services, infrastructure and the transition away from personal income tax. They could also contribute to a properly managed sovereign wealth fund for future generations.

Australia should not merely be the quarry of the world. We should refine, process, manufacture and build at home.

Rebuild Australian Manufacturing

A strong nation must be capable of producing essential goods. Australia should rebuild advanced manufacturing across critical sectors, including food processing, medicine, defence, construction materials, technology, transport equipment and energy infrastructure.

Government procurement should favour Australian-made products where reasonably possible. Tax incentives, access to affordable energy, targeted investment and streamlined approvals should support businesses that manufacture locally and employ Australians.

Instead of exporting raw minerals and buying back expensive finished products, Australia should capture more of the value chain. This would create skilled jobs, strengthen regional communities and improve national security.

Take Back Control of Strategic Assets

Ports, roads, electricity networks, water systems, telecommunications infrastructure, strategic land and critical energy and resource assets are not ordinary commodities. They are the foundations of national sovereignty.

Australia must audit foreign ownership and control across these sectors and establish clear national-interest rules. Where vital infrastructure has been transferred on terms that undermine Australia’s security or economic independence, governments should explore lawful pathways to restore Australian control.

Foreign investment can make a valuable contribution, but it must serve Australia—not place Australia at the mercy of foreign governments, state-owned enterprises or multinational monopolies.

Australia Must Control Immigration

Immigration policy should be determined by Australia’s capacity and national interest—not by corporate lobbying, ideological pressure or a desire to inflate headline economic growth.

Immigration must be linked to housing availability, infrastructure, hospitals, schools, wages and genuine skills shortages. Australia should welcome people who respect the country, contribute to it and integrate into its civic culture. However, intake levels must not erode living standards or deepen housing and infrastructure shortages.

A government that cannot control who enters the country, in what numbers and on what terms is failing one of its most basic responsibilities.

Remove Foreign Lobbying From Australian Government

Foreign governments, foreign-controlled entities and their paid representatives should not be permitted to secretly shape Australian policy.

Australia needs strict transparency laws, enforceable disclosure requirements, meaningful penalties and strong restrictions on foreign lobbying and political influence. Political donations and revolving-door arrangements that create divided loyalties must also face far greater scrutiny.

Australian policy must be made for Australians.

Make the Public Sector Accountable

Australians are repeatedly told to accept higher taxes while government departments waste money, duplicate functions and fail to deliver measurable results.

Every department and senior public-sector executive should operate under clear, published key performance indicators. These should cover delivery times, costs, service quality, productivity and measurable public outcomes. Performance should be independently audited and reported transparently.

Those who consistently perform should be rewarded. Those who repeatedly fail should be replaced. Drawing on the performance discipline seen in parts of Asia, including China, does not require copying another country’s political system. It means recognising that public administration must produce results.

Accountability of this kind could slash waste, reduce bureaucracy and restore public confidence in government.

Australians Must Come First

The core principle of a nationalist government is straightforward: Australia’s land, resources, institutions and economic system should primarily serve the Australian people.

That means an independent foreign policy, controlled immigration, fair returns from resources, Australian ownership of strategic infrastructure, lower taxes on productive citizens, stronger manufacturing and genuine accountability throughout government.

Australia has the resources, talent and geographic advantages to become one of the most prosperous and independent nations on Earth. What it lacks is not capacity. It lacks political courage and leadership willing to confront the interests benefiting from the present system.

A nationalist leader would not ask foreign powers, lobbyists or global institutions for permission to put Australians first.

That leader would understand that cooperation is valuable, sovereignty is essential and government exists to serve its citizens—not the other way around.

It is time for Australia to stop managing decline and start building national strength again.

⁨Anupam Sir⁩
Australia Needs a Nationalist Leader — Not Another Manager of Decline