Treasurer Joe Hockey will use G20 meeting to deliver lessons to leaders

THIS weekend Treasurer Joe Hockey will tell the world’s 19 biggest economies controlling 85 per cent of global wealth how to manage their affairs.

THIS weekend Australia will tell the world’s 19 biggest economies controlling 85 per cent of global wealth how to manage their affairs.

Treasurer Joe Hockey and Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens will host a Sydney meeting of the finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the G20 — the world’s top 20 economic titans.

And they won’t be there simply to meet and greet. Mr Hockey wants to deliver some lessons to the economic powerhouses who will be his guests.

For example, he believes governments should sell off assets and encourage more private companies to finance and run major infrastructure projects which create jobs and boost our exports.

“How do we get more private sector money into infrastructure? Not just here in Australia where there’s a backlog of at least $400 billion of projects, but globally how are we going to drive it?” Mr Hockey said today in Sydney.

“Because ultimately our resources will help to build a lot of that infrastructure, particularly in the Asian region.”

And he believes his top level audience will listen.

“We are the chair of the G20 (for 2014) and we want to take a lead in this area and we want to work with other governments,” the Treasurer said.

“Now, it is very significant that the finance ministers of the world — significant players — and the central bank governors are coming here to Sydney. There are five meetings of the G20 finance ministers through the course of the year, two of them in Washington.

“The fact they are coming here for the first meeting of the year is hugely important.”

Mr Hockey said there would be direct consequences from the series of talks for Australian interests, such as global efforts to ensure multinational companies pay their full tax bill, and reforms which could bring our currency to a reasonable exchange rate.

“This is where the rubber hits the road for even the smallest of businesses in Australia, because the level of the Australian dollar affects everyone in Australia and it’s closely linked to the American dollar and tapering (of US stimulus spending) and a range of other factors at play,” the Treasurer told reporters.

“Taxation arrangements, particularly in relation to major digital companies, and transfer pricing by companies is hugely important to Australian businesses.”

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