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Immigrants also start businesses at higher rates than native-born though. You don't just get more workers, you also get more jobs. Nearly half of the Fortune 500 are immigrant-founded companies. Even refugees start companies at higher rates than other immigrants. For as much as social scientists know, nobody truly knows how to truly start from scratch. I agree that the challenge is pressing. But working within pre-existing institutions rather than creating new ones seems like a better bet. Just consider how long it's taken to build the ones we already have.

Your vision is enlightening Robyn! Many thanks for exposing the real situation.

Thank you Matt, That's a great comment. I really appreciate your additional insights. The points about culture and the "normal raft of vulnerabilities" are very well made. Thanks again, and I hope all is well with you. Terence

Correct me if I misread you but the upshot of why you see Charter Cities as failing is because of corruption: sponsors to date seek personal gain by bending the project towards the very crony capitalism at the root of the problem CCs are supposed to solve. This would be why a totally clean slate is required. Design a new city from scratch with a template of laws and independent judiciary so that any future designs will be benchmarked against the ideal and any future decent into corruption breaks the charter. The international Capitheticals competition might be a good place to start This is an illustration of what they currently do https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6170215/bright-minds-picture-a-new-look-canberra/

Thank you for the informative post on COVID-19. Keep up the good work.

Charter Cities offer a fresh start. We can design the infrastructure for social thriving: good rules as prescribed and built spaces: places to call home, places to gather in company of community, places for education, to build business and offer skilled services where people with education can adapt their skills to new circumstances where there are few to compete and none to displace. Finding builders for the physical infrastructure is probably the easiest part.

Numbers are already too great and we are likely to see more so we need a management plan in place beforehand. From middle class comfort it is difficult to see the socioeconomic disruption this can cause with consequent social unrest. Even well-educated refugees cannot get work at the level they had been operating so sadly seek work among the unskilled whom they often out-compete for placement. Refugees are understandably competitive. Resulting in a discontented displaced native population without the education or psychological skills to make room.

In Australia as elsewhere our civil liberties are being curtailed and new police powers are being introduced. Disruption, uncertainty and distraction contribute to an environment in which corrupt actors can take advantage of the crisis for their own benefit. Decisions can be influenced, contracts and licences granted, purchases made outside of procurement guidelines, and tenders secured without the same level of scrutiny and due diligence that may normally apply. We need to be alert to the granting of special powers to senior politicians that could damage our democracy long-term. It’s never easy to wind back powers once granted. The concentration of power should not, under any circumstances, lead to its abuse. And special powers in response to the pandemic, must only be used for the purposes for which they were granted. (I'm a messenger - this is an extract from a blog by Serena Lillyhwhite, head of Transparency International Australia: https://transparency.org.au/the-health-of-our-democracy-also-needs-protecting-in-a-crisis/)

Many thanks for this thoughtful and comprehensive analysis Terence. I'd like to propose a few other issues for consideration, but first, I couldn't agree more with your cautionary approach towards the 'subsistence safety net'. The presumption that people in the ever-growing urban areas of the Pacific can simply return to practising subsistence agriculture in their 'home' villages has never been more problematic. As you rightly note, there is already pressure on subsistence agriculture and other forms of village land use in many places; and a sudden influx of people from urban areas could create or exacerbate tensions over land and access to natural resources. This will vary significantly from place to place. As for additional issues to think about in relation to the possible impact of the pandemic in the region, the first could be broadly characterised as socio-cultural responses and interpretations. There is a growing body of research exploring how the impacts of so-called 'natural' disasters in the Pacific - such as cyclone Winston in Fiji, the earthquake in PNG's Hela Province in early 2018, and sea level rise - have been shaped by place-based social and cultural factors, often with very significant implications (and not necessarily negative ones). Another case in point is the resurgence in witchcraft and sorcery-related violence in parts of PNG. One could only imagine that if the pandemic takes hold in these areas, especially if there are fatalities, there would likely be an intensification in this sort of violence. Finally, I think it's critical that we don't forget that over the 12 or 18 months (or longer) that the pandemic will potentially afflict the Pacific, the region will continue to face its 'normal' raft of vulnerabilities. While we're almost out of the South Pacific's cyclone season, it's likely that another one will come and go before the pandemic does (plus we're entering the cyclone season for the North Pacific); and there is alway the possibility of an El Nino induced drought (and, in the case of the PNG Highlands, frost) event. In the spirit of hoping for the best but planning for the worse, we should countenance the possibility of significant 'natural' disasters as part of the COVID-19 scenarios that are being discussed. Thanks again Terence!

Thanks so much Holly for your future looking and positive comments. It would be great to work with you and others to increase engagement with our nation's representatives, their teams and Australians in general to apply systems thinking to these complex problems at home and abroad.

Thank you Jonathan, for your insightful comments. I look forward to the day when farmers and public health specialists work together as co-contributors to a healthy society and preventive medicine activities receive the modest but essential support required.

Thank you Julie, I couldn't agree more with your comments.