The Albanese Labor Government has weakened Australia’s economy through additional red tape, costly industrial relations reform, and falling productivity.
The final report of the Inquiry into promoting economic dynamism, competition and business formation was provided to the House of Representatives yesterday.
Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Economics, Garth Hamilton, welcomed the report and noted the government had already announced they would adopt bipartisan recommendations in relation to the financial sector.
“The issue of a Regulatory Grid was regularly raised during the inquiry as a practical step that the government could take to enable more competition in the banking sector,” Mr Hamilton said.
“The fact that the government has decided to take forward these recommendations should serve as a point of pride for the Committee, with our work delivering results before we had laid down our tools,” Mr Hamilton said.
With productivity falling 5.4 per cent in the past 21 months, the largest fall in productivity that has ever been recorded, Mr Hamilton reiterated the big task ahead for the government.
“A strong economy requires a diverse and dynamic business environment, and the government has plenty of work to do,” Mr Hamilton said.
“The Business Council of Australia has said that “there are many underlying reasons for this loss of economic dynamism. They include … increased uncertainty including over government policy, dwindling foreign investment, a rigid and heavily regulated labour market, a heavy burden of tax and regulation,” and on all of these points there is a role for government to play,” Mr Hamilton said.
“However, following this government’s second budget, Parliamentary Library researchers could not find a single substantive program within the budget papers to boost the economy’s productive capacity,” Mr Hamilton said.
“On Industrial Relations, the committee heard scathing evidence, including from the Minerals Council of Australia, on the negative impact that this Government’s IR reforms will have on productivity, competition, and economic growth,” Mr Hamilton said.
Mr Hamilton said a year on, a year worse off, the government again has an opportunity to address key economic issues in the coming budget.
ENDS.
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