Jim Chalmers:
I’m here today in New York City to talk about Australia as an attractive investment destination.
This is a time of great global economic uncertainty and Australia has a big opportunity to be a beneficiary of all of this churn and change. So today I’ve been speaking with some of the world’s biggest investors, representing around $25 trillion of funds under management and I have a very simple message for the investors of the world and the investors here in New York City.
Australia is an island of reliability and opportunity in a sea of global economic uncertainty. And we have so much of what the world needs. We are a very attractive destination as investors around the world consider the best place to invest their capital. Australia has a huge opportunity and we want to make the most of that opportunity. And that’s why we’re here in New York City. That’s why we’re engaging with counterparts in Washington D.C. yesterday, engaging with counterparts at APEC next week.
We’re in New York City because we want more of the world’s investors to get a slice of the action when it comes to Australia. And that’s what these engagements are all about – $25 trillion in capital under management, telling the investors of the world, the investors of New York City, that Australia is a place of great opportunity and great reliability. And our pitch is that Australia can be a hub, a digital hub in Asia, that we can be an indispensable part of the net zero transformation, that our geography, the stability of our institutions, our solid macroeconomic foundations and fundamentals, these are all things that we have going for us.
So there’s a lot coming at us from around the world, but we have a lot going for us here in Australia and that’s been my message to investors representing tens of trillions of dollars here in New York City.
Journalist:
What’s your reaction to the Coalition’s reform plans in The Australian today?
Chalmers:
Oh look, my focus has been on meeting with investors here in New York City. I’m broadly aware that Angus Taylor is out there trailing his coat and I’m told that Barnaby Joyce is considering leaving the Coalition.
You know the Coalition is bad if not even Barnaby Joyce wants to be part of it. And I think what all of this internal disunity shows is that the Coalition hasn’t changed a bit, they haven’t learned a thing, they are more divisive and more divided than ever and you see that reflected in those stories.
Thanks very much.