Business Council blasts Albanese IR laws
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The news: Business Council of Australia (BCA) CEO Bran Black is warning Australia is losing its competitive edge and that major companies are choosing to invest overseas rather than locally due to IR laws and increasing regulation.
In pre-released remarks for his first speech at the BCA's annual dinner on Tuesday, the head of the nation's leading business lobby group criticises the Albanese government’s workplace laws and calls for the rollback of multi-employer bargaining laws.
Black’s speech says that many of the CEOs leading Australia’s largest companies believe "we are losing our way,” and warns of a looming tax and debt crisis where future generations will face heavier tax burdens and reduced living standards.
The speech urges all sides of politics to take bold policy steps to address productivity, cost of living and housing. In it, the BCA also vows to renew its push for a national fund that speeds up housing planning approvals, to streamline or eliminate payroll tax and to replace stamp duty with land tax.
The context: Black replaced Jennifer Westacott as chief executive last year. The sharp criticism of Labor’s policies from corporate Australia will come in a dinner address, attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
The audience is also expected to include the CEOs of prominent companies, such as Commonwealth Bank’s Matt Comyn, Wesfarmers' Rob Scott and Rio Tinto Australia's Kellie Parker, all of whom are BCA board members.
The numbers: Highlighting projections from the Intergenerational Report that show the ratio of working Australians to retirees is set to fall from 3.8 to 2.6 in the next 40 years, Black speaks of the prospect of “an ever-widening budget deficit and rising public debt, meaning an even heavier fiscal burden on future generations.”
The speech says that without bold policy changes, Australia risks leaving future generations with a poorer quality of life than the current one. It also points to the growing strain on Australia's economy with over 1,200 businesses declaring insolvency in July alone.
What they said: Blacks' prepared remarks say: “Rather than feeling confident in our growing national prosperity, many CEOs feel we are losing our way. Instead of taking the big steps on the things that matter, we are taking incremental—but noticeable—steps backwards.”
“This shouldn’t be dismissed as talking Australia down. It’s a belief right across our membership that we can and must do better for our future generations.”
“We must get back as quickly as possible to having employers and employees reach agreements for their workplaces that reflect the fact that every business is unique, rather than seeing more top-down, one-size-fits-all approaches to policy.”
“I’ve spoken to many CEOs who’ve said they are far, far more cautious about hiring after the Government’s raft of recent workplace changes. This underlines the point that for a good job to be well-paid, it has to exist first.”
"Nothing we have seen seriously proposed by any side of politics in recent times would significantly alter that projection," Black’s speech says, referring to the projection of rising public debt and declining quality of life for future generations.
The source: BCA annual dinner address
