Big economic reform is still possible if the government and businesses can put aside differences, the prime minister says, following criticism from a major lobby group.
The government remained committed to the corporate sector, especially as there was overlap between the two groups, Anthony Albanese has told business leaders.
His speech at the Business Council of Australia Dinner on Tuesday came after the group’s chief executive Bran Black said the nation’s prosperity was taking “steps backwards”.
But the prime minister said the government wanted to work alongside the sector for large-scale changes.
“Economic reform is not confined to a vanished golden age, it remains our challenge to meet and our opportunity to seize,” Mr Albanese said.
“I am optimistic that government and business can do this together, by recognising each other’s strengths, respecting each other’s views and valuing each other’s contribution.”
He said the business sector had a critical role to play helping to develop reforms, such as the push towards net-zero.
“We are proudly pro-business and pro-worker and we don’t see this as a point of tension, we see it as a matter of logic,” the prime minister said.
“Co-operation is essential to creating a broader and stronger foundation for progress, for change that makes a lasting difference to people’s lives.”
The comments are in contrast to the Business Council chief executive, who said many corporate leaders believed Australia was losing its way for economic prosperity.
“Instead of taking the big steps on the things that matter, we are taking incremental – but noticeable – steps backwards,” Mr Black said.
He said many employers were “far, far more cautious” about hiring since the government’s raft of workplace changes came into force.
The lobby group’s president Geoff Culbert used an address at the same event to warn again rising populism and called for a return to pro-business values.
“Somewhere along the way, business has become a convenient scapegoat for all manner of challenging issues and it’s coming from all sides of politics,” he said.
“It may be popular to bash big business, but in doing so we are making success taboo in this country – and that is not consequence free.
“Why would anyone want to invest in Australia where even a modicum of success is criticised?”
If the coalition wins the next election, it has vowed to break up the major supermarkets if they engage in anti-competitive behaviour and floated similar measures to tackle market concentration in the aviation industry.
The Greens want higher taxes on corporations as part of the minor party’s “Robin Hood” reforms.
