Productivity gains come from getting the plumbing right
Australia can lift productivity by cutting duplications, speeding approvals and making the economy easier for firms, workers and investors to move through.
Productivity policy is often imagined as a search for the next big breakthrough. Frequently, it begins with something more prosaic: clearing away the delays and duplications that make everyday business harder than it needs to be.
That is the thinking behind this year’s budget productivity package. It is built around a powerful idea: make the economy easier to move through.
The package is expected to cut regulatory costs, with the National Competition Policy reforms alone adding around $13 billion to the economy each year once implemented. That is an average benefit of around $1,200 for every household in Australia.
The productivity package reduces frictions that have accumulated across the economy: cutting financial-sector paperwork, reducing duplicative data requests from financial regulators, streamlining foreign investment, speeding up the investor front door for major projects, and ensuring skilled workers do not need separate licences and fees to work across state borders.
