Meeting of economists, business leaders, MPs and unions at productivity roundtable

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australia's business, industry and union bosses were told to bring concrete ideas and a willingness to find common ground to the first day of the government's economic reform roundtable. There are early signs of consensus on the need to remove roadblocks for skilled workers, but the most contentious issues are still to come.

Transcript

00:00An all-female front row and the Treasury duo behind made a formidable pack at kick-off in a Team Australia moment.

00:12Take off your hat that you're wearing and to look at, OK, what's the national interest here?

00:19Drawn from government, peak policy institutions, business, unions, the crossbench and a solitary opponent.

00:26The responsibility on all of us couldn't be bigger.

00:29Their task? To invigorate a faltering $1.7 trillion economy through the strength of ideas.

00:36We have opened that door to you and we are genuinely opening our minds.

00:40But a seat at this table comes with expectations.

00:44We need your concrete ideas. We need you to be specific. We need you to be able to find common ground.

00:49And on day one, common ground was found.

00:53With broad support for an overhaul of occupational licenses to allow tradies to work freely across state borders.

01:00Agreement too on the need to tap into the skills of migrant workers.

01:05It's estimated around half of Australia's permanent migrants are working below their skill level.

01:11Businesses see opportunity. Unions are wary.

01:15I think this is always one of those where the devil is in the detail.

01:18Instead reviving a decades-old policy to address the skills shortage, a training levy on business.

01:25There is an acknowledgement that we have a problem in this country when it comes to employer investment in training.

01:30That was not something that would be supported.

01:32While there's little support for that levy, another tax is on the horizon.

01:37The state's accelerating plans for a national electric vehicle road user charge.

01:42I think it's fair and reasonable that everybody who uses our roads should be making a contribution.

01:46Participants emerged confident that there will be concrete outcomes from this summit.

01:51And a sense that with a stable, long-term government, reform might just be possible.

01:57But today was the easy day. Regulation is on the agenda tomorrow and tax on Thursday.

02:03And that's when the appetite for trade-offs and compromise will be tested.

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