Off topic - where are the leaders?

Last night I sat with a bunch of inspiring local business women (what a fabulous event) and the topic arose - where are our charismatic, purposeful leaders in Australia?

I am of the opinion that our current leaders and political parties are too much focused on their own agendas and not the greater good of the people. I think they have forgotten the real reason they are employed, which is to lead & administer the country with its best interests at heart - and not just to be re-elected by any means.

I'm being idealistic and naive - I am aware of this.

My personal opinion: we don't pay our politicians enough.

If Australia wants to attract the kind of talent capable of running an organisation which ultimately cares for 23 million people and counting, we need to pay the right kind of money; the kind of money which can attract that kind of talent. Seriously. If you're that candidate - you're good enough to run this mega-corporation -  are you going to chose a $350,000 salary and the life of backstabbing and manipulation that we see play out in parliament or are you going to aim to be CEO of our major corporations with salaries in the millions of dollars.  My apologies to those who are in politics for the greater good, and I am sure there are some, but it seems the vast majority of our very top parliamentarians are prepared to take a multi-million dollar pay cut for the sake of power and that's not right for the country.

While we are on the topic of corporations, we really do need to see a more corporate attitude in the running of the country. I would really love to see a corporate leader have free reign to clear out the duplication, remove a whole level of government and start the country running more efficiently, more cost effectively and more accountably. Better still, you haven't seen efficiency like there is in small business - lets get a mother and small business operator to show them how it's done. (Not me, I'm too busy)

One suggestion made was should we elect our media (who I agree have a far greater influence on the population) and have our politicians apply for the top jobs? Interesting, and I can see merit in this.

Overwhelmingly though, the agreement was that in Australia we are too damn lucky. We don't struggle, we don't have suffer, we have great healthcare (relatively) and education, roads, transport etc. we are all blessed and therefore the drive,  the inspiration that creates a great leader is absent. What are our politicians charged with but the administration of Australia - there is no burning agenda for them to address, nothing of the ilk of the rest of the world. Nothing for them to aspire to repair as their own personal legacy. Lucky us.