You’re part of the growth problem, business leaders tell Chalmers

Michael Read, Carrie LaFrenz, Elouise Fowler and John Kehoe

Dec 5, 2024 – 11.56am

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Already a subscriber?

The leaders of two of Australia’s biggest companies, BHP and Wesfarmers, say they want to heed the Treasurer’s call to kickstart a private sector-led economic recovery but are being held back by onerous IR laws and an uncompetitive tax system.

After figures released on Wednesday showed annual gross domestic product growth unexpectedly slumped to 0.8 per cent in September, Treasurer Jim Chalmers admitted the private sector was the only sustainable source of medium-term economic growth.

Michael Read is the Financial Review's economics correspondent, reporting from the federal press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia and at UBS.

Carrie LaFrenz is a senior journalist covering retail/consumer goods. She previously covered healthcare/biotech. Carrie has won multiple awards for her journalism including financial journalist of the year from The National Press Club.

Elouise Fowler is a journalist for The Australian Financial Review based in the Melbourne office.

John Kehoe is economics editor at Parliament House, Canberra. He writes on economics, politics and business. John was Washington correspondent covering Donald Trump’s first election. He joined the Financial Review in 2008 from Treasury.