Anthony Albanese’s push for consensus ahead of the economic reform roundtable appears increasingly dead on arrival.
Just over three weeks before the three-day productivity, tax and economic growth forum, ACTU secretary Sally McManus on Friday will blame “poor management performance” as the “most significant cause of slow productivity growth”.
As an alliance of 27 business and university groups present a united front on proactive measures to lift weak productivity levels, McManus will accuse employers of equating “lifting productivity to doing more with less, pushing people to work harder for longer”.
The Albanese government, which oversaw relationship breakdowns with business leaders during its first term after rolling-out unions’ shopping list of industrial relations laws and new regulations, is facing a critical point to secure broad agreement at its economic reform roundtable hosted at Parliament House from August 19-21.
Wielding enormous influence across the Prime Minister’s caucus, emboldened union leaders are expressing limited appetite for reforms that would ease pressure on businesses or enact advice from the Productivity Commission, which they believe should be abolished.
With business chiefs nervous about a union ambush and being used by the government as cover for reforms that suit Labor’s agenda, Albanese and Jim Chalmers have a clear choice to broker economic reforms in the nation’s interest or bend to pressure from union leaders and Treasury bean-counters.
On the eve of submissions for the economic reform roundtable closing on Friday, a group of 27 industry associations released a joint submission headlined by four reform priority areas: slashing 25 per cent of red tape by 2030, reforming research and development incentives and not over-regulating artificial intelligence, commencing a three-month review to finalise tax-reform proposals and fast-tracking planning and major project approvals. The groups representing big and small business, miners, builders, universities, tourism operators, energy companies, telcos, tech giants, banks, insurers and airports are floating a moderate, uncontroversial agenda.
In contrast, union bosses have outlined proposals that would prioritise shorter working weeks and more holidays in return for higher productivity gains, dismantle the PC, and address the “performance and capacity of Australian management” to improve productivity. Quick to shift blame to employers, McManus says large numbers of workers
“deal with high workloads, constant pressure to work extra hours to the extent where 5.7 million workers say they feel burnt out at work”.
The PC’s “five pillars” reports, released from next week ahead of the roundtable, are underpinned by an exhaustive consultation process and will deliver recommendations on reforms to modernise and maximise the skilled workforce, digital technology and artificial intelligence, care economy, clean energy and net zero transformation.
After the government and unions hijacked the 2022 Jobs and Skills summit, private sector leaders are anxious about whether the economic reform roundtable is for show, or a fair-dinkum launching pad for reforms.
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