In 1992, Bill Clinton’s campaign director James Carville hung a sign in campaign central designed to refocus workers on the central task at hand. It read:

Change vs. more of the same

The economy, stupid

Don’t forget health care.

Even though Carville wrote this 21 years ago for a US Presidential campaign, these three messages remain the essence that drives political campaigns across all modern economies.

While media and politicians can get bogged in the minutia of daily political issues, a significant slice of the electorate does not engage with politics at that level and governments shouldn’t forget it.

Voters are, however, highly tuned in to whether the economy is sick, flagging or thriving, whether their hospitals and schools are serving them well, and whether the Government is working hard for their best interests.

Jay Weatherill’s nemesis is not Steven Marshall nor the Government’s inept handling of child sex in schools. His biggest enemies are longevity and the economy, stupid.

Of course there is much beyond his direct control or capacity to influence in the economy, but it’s hard to escape the conclusion that after two years in the job, he’s struggled to stamp his authority on it.

Now he has just a few months to demonstrate that he has full command of which economic levers are at his disposal and which ones to pull to help to contain cost of living pressures and deliver future jobs growth.

At present, he’s inspiring so little confidence in his economic credentials that a recent Galaxy poll found more people believe the Liberal Opposition has a better economic plan for South Australia – and it doesn’t even have one.

The poll probably more reflects the State Government’s lack of a coherent, cohesive economic plan. Mike Rann barely stopped talking about his economic plan. Weatherill doesn’t have one to mention, and only a couple of his ministers seem to understand the importance of producing one.

He did release an Economic Statement, but that was a progress report devoid of new initiatives.

He then launched a brave new marketing pitch, but in the end it boiled down to a new logo.

And just recently the Premier has been out promoting a new Government website that draws national attention to the fact that our State’s only remaining car manufacturer is writhing on its deathbed.

Oh great!

The new Health and Medical Research Institute, a beacon of architectural splendor on North Terrace, has delivered our State the potential to leverage a whole new medical research and instrument manufacturing industry. And yet in his first budget statement, the Premier defunded the State’s contribution to the State’s medical devices partnering program at the same time as he defunded the State’s main program for investment in renewable energy.

He also made nary a whimper when Tony Abbott visited South Australia during the Federal election campaign and threw the future submarine project into serious doubt. The future submarines project is ridiculously important to our economy. It will create at its core hundreds of high-tech, high-skilled jobs, many of which have already been amassed in this State via other defence contracts, not least of which is the Air Warfare Destroyer project.

Defence employs both directly and indirectly 27,000 people in South Australia – far bigger than the car industry – and yet a few weeks ago the Premier barred Ministerial involvement in valuable high-level defence industries meetings in the US about defence industries in SA.

This State has spent a decade working to diversify its largely agricultural and cost-based manufacturing economy into innovation-based manufacturing, mining, defence, green tech and science-based industries. It was assisted by hefty investments in targeted infrastructure and a mighty effort by the State Government to seek out new overseas markets and go after foreign investment.

The extent of the diversification achieved was the result of sticking to a plan developed out of broad industry and community consultation by the Government and a new heavy-weight Economic Development Boarded, headed in the first four years by former mining magnate Robert Champion de Crespigny.

Not everything went according to plan, but there is no doubt a defined strategy vigorously pursued by Rann, Foley, Conlon and Holloway that including going after the AWD project and big mining ventures was aimed at a broadening of the State’s economic foundations. A solid platform for future opportunities and growth has been built.

So what’s next? Where’s the plan – the next big vision. Why isn’t there anyone in the Cabinet articulating a post GFC, post-car direction for manufacturing?

With a new Federal Government in power that has so far only spoken about industry policy in terms of removing the carbon tax and reducing minimum wages (a message delivered by Maurice Newman, head of Tony Abbott’s Business Advisory Council, acting as a stalking horse), help from that quarter will be like waiting for Godot and just as futile.

With the aid of an imaginative and bold strategy, it is entirely possible to reinvent a bright future for our manufacturing industry.

If manufacturers are to survive, including car component manufacturers, they need to keep making the incremental changes necessary to evolve into new markets. So what are the new markets?

The mining boom may not have fully arrived, but it will not pass us by over the medium term: we have a solid mining industry now steadily grinding away and rather than just see the State turned into a giant quarry, there is more to be mined than just minerals, gas and oil.

Mining equipment manufacturing, for instance, is now flourishing in several European countries where minimum wages are equal or higher than those in Australia, and that have fewer mineral resources than we. What can be done here, and how?

Our university and overseas student sectors segue into these industries, so how do we grow the tertiary education industry while getting it to direct more research toward innovations in mining, advanced technologies and medicine?

What framework are we creating to further value-add to our food and wine industries and to explore new markets for this and tourism?

What initiatives are planned to future-proof our defence industry and ensure our submarines are built in Australia and not bought off shore?

There’s an election in March and we must turn the conversation to who really does have the best policies and the best ideas to shape and steer and prime the economy for the decade ahead. If we don’t, then we really are stupid.

Jill Bottrall is a communications consultant. She was an adviser to former Premier Mike Rann. A version of this article was first published on her website.