Turnbull, Shorten and others to discuss growth, social equity at Outlook conference

The political leaders will headline this year’s The Australian/Melbourne Institute Economic and Social Outlook Conference.

Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten will speak at this year’s The Australian/­Melbourne Institute Economic and Social Outlook Conference on October 11 and 12.

Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten are headlining the speaker list at this year’s The Australian/­Melbourne Institute Economic and Social Outlook Conference, along with other key figures in politics, business, academia and the media.

This year’s conference, on ­October 11 and 12 in Melbourne, will feature rigorous, fact-based discussion by thought leaders and policy influencers addressing the question of how Australia’s 27 continuous years of economic growth can be sustained without sacrificing social equity.

Key speakers include opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen, Reserve Bank assistant governor Luci Ellis and University of Melbourne economics and business dean Ian Harper, who will discuss the macro-economy, and Revenue and Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer and Labor assistant Treasury spokesman Andrew Leigh debating how we strengthen fairness and equity.

Urban Infrastructure and Cities Minister Paul Fletcher will discuss population growth and how our cities can work better with Labor spokesman for infrastructure, transport, cities and regional development Anthony Albanese.

Other speakers include Seek chief executive Andrew Bassat, Energy Australia managing director Catherine Tanna, former treasurer Peter Costello, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and The Australian’s editor-at-large, Paul Kelly.

In other sessions Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott and NSW Education Department secretary Mark Scott will discuss education and skills, and Productivity Commissioner Jonathan Coppel and Melbourne Institute professor Roger Wilkins will look at the ­latest empirical findings about ­inequality in Australia.

The conference will also give detailed scrutiny to other policy challenges, including finding the intersection between personal health/wellbeing and economic growth, how data can be a catalyst for innovation, how the energy policy deadlock can be broken and how the challenge of weak wage growth can be solved.

Melbourne Institute director Abigail Payne said that this year’s 12th Outlook conference was not “sitting on its laurels” and would include new types of sessions designed to engage in different ways.

Breakfast roundtables, most of them led by Melbourne Institute researchers, will delve deeply into the key issues. The evening cocktail party, co-hosted with the Women in Economics Network, will feature soapbox speakers giving quick-fire ­explanations of conversation-starter issues.

More information about the conference is at melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/outlook