It’s often said at the start of administrations that what they do over the next five years will be fundamental in shaping our islands future and they all start out with ambitious plans for change on how our island is going to look so much different at the end of that administration’s life.

We’ve all heard it so many times now that we all probably roll our eyes and move onto the next thing as soon as we hear it.

But in this administration’s case it is the case that what it does, or in fact does not do, will have repercussions for our island for decades to come.

Now that sounds like a very bold statement to make, so let me explain what this administration matters perhaps more than past ones.

Our island is facing at this moment a perfect storm that has been building for years, if not decades.

Not just a cost of living crisis and high inflation along with the recovery from Covid but also a social divide.

The cost of housing is preventing many young people returning to the island and those of working age relocating here.

Without a rebalance of the population then the economy can’t develop or expand as we need it to so it can provide the expanded tax base to fund the public services of the future.

Then there is the climate change agenda, a topic that I know generates heated arguments on both sides of the debate. But regardless of which side of the debate you fall on we do need to move and adapt.

The rest of the world is changing and we can’t be the hold out against that change or we will find we have machinery and vehicles that are not replaceable or repairable as the rest of the world has moved on, and we will be faced with supply chains that have adapted and are manufacturing for the new world not the old.

Equally, businesses more and more now are looking at the green credentials of the jurisdictions in which they operate, or are looking to operate in, and it can with pressure from investors and shareholders make the difference on whether they stay or decide to start up in a particular jurisdiction.

But also green technology is now becoming an economic sector all of its own one that as the only UNESCO biosphere nation we should be in an ideal position to attract bringing the jobs and opportunities that go with it.

There is also the cost and size of government.

For years now the bingo phrases have been trotted out such as: the need for government to live within its means; smaller, smarter government; single legal entity.

This administration needs to translate those phases into action.

So I believe this administration will for future generations be remembered for one of two things.

Either what it did, or what it didn’t do. All of us in public office need to ensure it is the former.