Leadership Quote by Julie Bishop

The line does the most politicianly thing possible: it turns ageing from fate into a policy problem with a costed solution. Bishop’s “we know” isn’t a neutral preface; it’s an authority stamp, a bid to make the premise feel settled and technocratic rather than ideological. The sentence then slides from “conditions and diseases” (clinical, impersonal) to “we associate with ageing” (cultural, squishier), hinting that what we treat as inevitable decline is partly a story we’ve agreed to tell ourselves. That sets up the pivot: if it’s partly narrative, it’s partly negotiable.

The real work happens in “if we just took preventative steps earlier.” “Just” is doing PR: it shrinks a lifetime of unequal access to nutrition, housing, time, and healthcare into a matter of better choices. Prevention is framed as common sense, which conveniently positions anyone who resists as either irresponsible or irrational. It’s a compassionate pitch with an austere edge: take care of yourself now, spare the system later.

Context matters. In ageing societies, prevention talk often doubles as budget talk. Delaying onset means fewer hospital admissions, less expensive late-stage care, a workforce that stays productive longer, and a state that can promise stability without raising taxes dramatically. Subtext: the social contract is being renegotiated from “we will care for you” to “we will help you manage your risk.”

It works rhetorically because it offers optimism without promising miracles. Ageing remains real, but it’s recast as something government can “nudge” and individuals can “own,” a tidy bridge between public health and personal responsibility.