While it's custom at this time of year for pundits to predict the year ahead, no one really has a clue. The typical indices used for crystal-balling have gone haywire as signals are sent in all directions.

In the final weeks of 2011, your confidence may have been boosted by Moody's, the international rating agency, reaffirming Australia's AAA rating; or maybe it was diminished by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which delivered a subdued outlook in its latest board minutes.

And forget about using the sharemarket and currency movements to settle your nerves and act as a gauge for what might lie ahead. The extreme irrationality of these markets at present strips them of any predictive value.

As uncertainty and volatility pervade the global political economy, there is a common theme emerging among the business community. It is lamenting the short-sightedness of government, and it is screaming out for political leadership that is more strategic and long term.

This view was reflected in the recent CEO Survey 2011. The survey reported Andrew Reitzer of Metcash bemoaning politicians being "too worried about short-term politics"; Gail Kelly of Westpac saying we need to "switch our thinking from the short term towards the longer term"; John Borghetti of Virgin calling for "a plan for economic growth in Australia post the resource boom"; Cameron Clyne of NAB querying fixed four-year terms to alleviate "the short-term focus"; David Flanagan of Atlas Iron wanting a "long-term approach to policy and decision-making"; Matthew Grounds of UBS seeking a "long-term vision for Australia"; Mike Hirst of the Bendigo Bank wanting a "clear vision for the future"; Rob Murray of Lion Nathan saying "the nation needs a long-term plan"; and Ian Narev of CBA seeking a "strong Australia for the long term".

This week, Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford struck a similar note at the KPMG Couta Boat Classic by commenting that "frankly, we've got to have some strategic thinking about the challenges Australia faces".

Business does not have unrealistic expectations of government. As 2012 begins, our corporate leaders are grappling with the same macro-economic complexities as our politicians - from sovereign debt issues in the eurozone to a struggling US, a restive Middle East, a starving Africa, a recovering Japan, a war-torn Afghanistan, a transitional Korean peninsula and balancing acts in the high-growth economies of China and India.

Business is not looking to the Australian Government to resolve these global uncertainties but, rather, to plan for them. It wants the Government to formulate a coherent strategic plan that will advance our long-term interests regardless of how such uncertainties unfold.

No matter what lies ahead in 2012, the Australian economy will improve over the long term if the Government commits to promoting greater diversity, productivity, flexibility, enterprise and prudence.

Any seasoned CEO would tell you that the starting point for any long-term growth strategy is to strengthen and leverage your core. However, the Federal Government is doing the opposite.

For Australia, our core includes sectors such as resources, agriculture, tourism, education, construction and selected manufacturing. Unfortunately, the Government plans to effectively penalise the most valuable part of our core with the mining tax and then penalise the industry again, together with all others, through a carbon tax.

Not only is the latter a production-based tax that would disproportionately punish Australian companies if it ever were adopted elsewhere but the revenue it delivers is not even being put away for a rainy day, nor being spent on revenue-generating assets or on boosting other core sectors of the economy.

Instead, the money is to be redistributed as welfare and to fund government-picked winners in the area of green technology.

The problem with these taxes is that they were designed to satisfy short-term ends of improving the Government's standing in the polls and appeasing the Greens and Independents.

If you look at other big bets of the Government, it tells a similar story, from the white elephant National Broadband Network to the failed Grocery Watch, Fuel Watch and home insulation schemes; to the mismanagement of the asylum-seeker boat arrivals and banning exports of livestock to Indonesia, just to name a few.

Short-term tactics may satisfy the 24-hour media cycle and keep the pollsters and their focus groups happy. But it is no substitute for sound governance, good policy and long-term strategic leadership.

Nevertheless, if the Government enters 2012 with a genuine commitment to improve the economy's diversity, productivity, flexibility, enterprise and prudence, then it will find itself no better ally than the Australian business community.

Ted O'Brien is the managing director of Barton Deakin, Qld - an LNP-aligned government relations firm.