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 groupâs chief executive Bran Black said the nationâs prosperity was taking âsteps backwardsâ.
But the prime minister said the government wanted to work alongside the sector for large-scale changes.
âEconomic reform is not confined to a vanished golden age, it remains our challenge to meet and our opportunity to seize,â Mr Albanese said.
âI am optimistic that government and business can do this together, by recognising each otherâs strengths, respecting each otherâs views and valuing each otherâs contribution.â
He said the business sector had a critical role to play helping to develop reforms, such as the push towards net-zero.
âWe are proudly pro-business and pro-worker and we donât see this as a point of tension, we see it as a matter of logic,â the prime minister said.
âCo-operation is essential to creating a broader and stronger foundation for progress, for change that makes a lasting difference to peopleâs lives.â
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.
âInstead of taking the big steps on the things that matter, we are taking incremental â but noticeable â steps backwards,â Mr Black said.
He said many employers were âfar, far more cautiousâ about hiring since the governmentâs raft of workplace changes came into force.
The lobby groupâs president Geoff Culbert used an address at the same event to warn again rising populism and called for a return to pro-business values.
âSomewhere along the way, business has become a convenient scapegoat for all manner of challenging issues and itâs coming from all sides of politics,â he said.
âIt may be popular to bash big business, but in doing so we are making success taboo in this country â and that is not consequence free.
âWhy would anyone want to invest in Australia where even a modicum of success is criticised?â
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 partyâs âRobin Hoodâ reforms.
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Poppy Johnston and Andrew Brown
(Australian Associated Press)
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