Beware succumbing to black hole of debt, Don Argus warns

Don Argus has warned Malcolm Turnbull that Australia will succumb to a “black hole of debt” unless he makes “hard decisions”.

Former BHP Billiton chairman and NAB boss Don Argus says federal budgets since 2008 have failed to rein in government debt.

Corporate leader Don Argus has warned Malcolm Turnbull that Australia will succumb to a “black hole of debt” that will hurt living standards unless he makes “hard decisions” to push necessary reforms.

Writing exclusively in The Weekend Australian, the former BHP Billiton chairman and National Australia Bank boss says federal budgets since 2008 have failed to offer a “plausible narrative” to rein in government debt.

Mr Argus urges the newly installed Prime Minister against letting the debate on reform go downhill because he faces an election expected next year, saying he should look to proposals from last month’s National Reform Summit.

His comments came as key summit proponent and Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott called for a deregulation agenda that includes streamlining environmental approvals, harmonising retail hours and recognising trades qualifications across states.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Kate Carnell urged Mr Turnbull to appoint a tourism minister and a minister for cities to address productivity sapping traffic congestion.

Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie called for more federal government involvement in tackling housing affordability.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox has written to Mr Turnbull requesting the establishment of an innovation and competitiveness taskforce to drive entrepreneurship and the jobs of the future, in line with his agenda of boosting innovation to seize future opportunities. The government is also being urged to reinstate reform proposals ruled out by Tony Abbott during his prime ministership, includ­ing superannuation tax conces­sions for high-income earners.

The Weekend Australian understands that proposals raised at last month’s reform summit sponsored by The Australian, The Australian Financial Review and KPMG have been informally canvassed by members of the government with some of the key proponents.

Ms Westacott said “we really need a positive vision for the economy around growth and Mr Turnbull’s started to do that’’.

She said the Prime Minister needed to build a narrative around how the country could deal with the forces of technological disruption and what is needed to improve living standards.

The China-Australia free-trade agreement was vital in terms of shoring up Australia’s economic prosperity and the onus was on Labor to pass the deal, she said.

On tax reform, it was ­“important not to take stuff off the table’’.

As for budget sustainability, the government needed to pursue a redesign of spending programs, particularly health, and pursue a 10-year agenda of returning to a structural surplus.

On workplace relations, the focus needed to be on a system that was fit for the future, including the scope and content of enterprise agreements and the possibility of individual flexibility agreements.

Dr Goldie backed Mr Turnbull’s message this week that Australia should be excited about the future.

“We all agree we need strong economic growth because we want more job opportunities,’’ she said.

The ACOSS chief said Australia was facing a growing level of long-term unemployment and she hoped to see a clear agenda from the government in terms of equipping the community with the right skills for the jobs of the future. Dr Goldie also called for the government to change its practice of offsetting new spending in portfolios from cuts in the same portfolio. Spending and savings measures should be pursued across the whole spectrum of government.

She also called for better outcomes on health, productivity and participation. This was particular­ly important for mature-aged workers.

Tax reform needed to canvass all options including superannua­tion tax concessions, negative gearing, capital gains tax concessions, stamp duty and land taxes.

She called on the federal government to engage on housing afford­ability, which had been “lost in the wilderness’’.

Mr Willox, who has held discussions with chief executives, said Mr Turnbull’s comments around embracing innovation and the future­ had been greeted with optim­ism “sprinkled with the real­ity that there is a lot to be done’’.

The agenda needed to focus on innovation, tax reform, education, innovation and industrial relations, as well as a skills agenda for the jobs of the future.

Ms Carnell said Mr Turnbull’s new frontbench should include a minister with specific responsibility for tourism, should keep the small business portfolio in cabinet and include a minister for cities.

She said tourism was one of Australia’s biggest growth industries, particularly with the lower dollar and expected strong growth from Chinese outbound tourists.

Ms Carnell said a minister for cities should tackle gridlock which was costing billions in lost prod­uctivity and the government’s infra­structure minister needed to advance Infrastructure Australia’s priority list, including widening federal government involvement to public transport.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver and president Ged Kearney have written to Mr Turnbull seeking a meeting to urge him to reverse key government policies such as university deregulation and the protection of Australian jobs.