I want to add my thanks to the Prime Minister’s. You’re all contributing your experience and your expertise in the service of the national economic interest, and we are very grateful to you for that. I also want to thank the PM – for his introduction and for his support for this effort since he first announced this Roundtable 10 weeks ago today. If there’s a defining characteristic of the government he leads it’s that it is considered and consultative. We share his belief that the best progress we can make, is the progress we make together.
From the outset, he’s been clear that this is about writing the next chapter on economic reform, and I want to acknowledge the leadership he’s shown in getting us here. Already there’s been a very intensive period of consultation. A ‘boardroom blitz’ with dozens of business leaders, union leaders, over 40 ministerial roundtables, almost 900 submissions from across the country, discussions with everyone here.
The appetite and ambition have been really encouraging. Again, I couldn’t be more grateful for that, because it’s helped put us in a good position for the coming days. Some of you have been in this Cabinet Room before, for others it’s your first time. I wanted to tell you why we chose this room, not because we want to usurp the role of Cabinet and ministers. Not to take decisions for them, but to inform them. We chose it to keep the numbers focused and the conversation flowing. We chose it because we want you to grapple with the same sorts of issues and trade‑offs and opportunity costs, we grapple with almost every week, as a group. And because it was in this room in one of the first Cabinet meetings after the election that we decided to put productivity at the very core of our second term agenda.
The timing for this gathering couldn’t be better, the responsibility couldn’t be bigger. In fact, it’s hard to recall a time when the balance between opportunity and uncertainty was so finely poised as it seems now. Between the progress we’ve made and the productivity we need to sustain it in uncertain times. We’ve had 4 major economic shocks in less than 2 decades. What used to be punctuation points marking the end and beginning of long periods of calm has become a near permanent state of upheaval.
At the same time as the bigger backdrop is being shaped by big challenges and uncertainty on the horizon in areas like energy, demography, industry, technology and geopolitics that were sketched out so starkly in our Intergenerational Report. We are realistic about the impact of all of this but optimistic too. In this world of churn and change we like Australia’s chances. We’re not complacent by any means, but the progress we’ve made together in the past few years does give us confidence.
Last week was the perfect illustration: On Tuesday, a third interest rate cut in 6 months because of the progress that’s been made on inflation. On Wednesday annual real wages growing for the seventh consecutive quarter, the strongest growth in 5 years. On Thursday, unemployment ticked down and 25,000 new jobs. Australia’s performance sets us apart, but we’re not satisfied, we need to do more and we need to do better and we will.
That’s why the discussions here matter, over the next 3 days. It’s why the decisions taken here matter, over the next 3 Budgets. But it’s the efforts and enterprise of people outside this room that have played and will continue to play the decisive role. It’s for them that we need to make the most of this defining decade – to build for them a new generation of prosperity.
Our progress in the near term, our ability to get on top of the cyclical issues in our economy, gives us the time and space and platform to attend to the bigger more persistent structural issues. As the PM and I both said at the National Press Club: We are proud of the progress we’ve made, we are focused primarily on delivering what we took to the election, but that’s not the limit of our ambitions, that is the foundation of our ambitions.
We have 3 clear objectives. Most importantly, to make our economy more productive over time, because that’s the best way to lift living standards and make people better off. To make our nation more resilient in a more contested world. And thirdly, to build on the budget repair we’ve begun, to make it more sustainable.
We have filled this room with experience and expertise. We have opened that door to you and opened our minds to your ideas. Twenty‑three core attendees, and 25 session‑specific attendees, from business, government, economics and academia, the union movement and civil society. As I said: please consider this as 3 days to inform 3 budgets – and beyond.
To make the most of this opportunity we need your concrete ideas, we need you to be specific. We need to be able to pay for them. We need you to be willing to test them with others in this room. We need you to be willing to compromise and find common ground. This is all about building consensus and building momentum. Which means going beyond our own narrow, sectional or commercial interests and serving the national economic interest. This is an ambitious group, an ambitious government, an ambitious agenda.
Global uncertainty surrounds us, big economic challenges confront us, and our ambitions must meet this moment. Broadly, we’re looking to build consensus around 3 types of outcomes. Clear reform directions – areas where there’s momentum and broad agreement on the direction of travel even if unanimity isn’t there yet. Specific reforms – the handful of changes we could all agree on now. And ongoing priorities – where there’s appetite in the room for further work. Over these 3 days I’ll try to keep it focused, keep it constructive, and keep it flowing.
I’ll provide some opening remarks for each session which will help to set up our conversation before inviting contributions from around the table. Michele is kicking us off today. Danielle tomorrow. Jenny on Thursday. After hearing and testing your ideas, I’ll try to draw the main threads together.
As we move through the next 3 days, I would appreciate it if you could keep one thing front of mind. We don’t just want to know what you’d do if you were us. We want to know what we can do together, and what your contribution will be to that bigger more ambitious effort. If there are solutions to the big challenges we face, I’m confident all the people in this room can help us find them. With that, I’ll thank the Prime Minister, I’ll thank the media, and shortly we’ll go to Governor Bullock.