Scott Morrison vowed to roll back regulation, pass tax reform and fight militant unions in his first major economic speech since the LNP’s surprise election victory this past month.
PM Scott Morrison vowed to roll back regulation, pass tax reform and fight militant unions in his first major economic speech since the LNP’s surprise election victory this past month.
Addressing the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA in Perth, Mr Morrison outlined key economic priorities for the government, describing the nation’s economy as remarkably resilient.
“We are on track to achieve 28 years of uninterrupted economic growth and Australia’s real GDP has grown faster than any G7 economy over that period,” he said.
“At 2.9 per cent, jobs growth has been stronger than any of the G7 countries over the past year. The vast majority of the nearly 1,000 jobs a day created over that time have been full-time positions.
“Our AAA credit rating remains in place, one of only ten nations in the world to achieve this outcome from all key agencies.
“That said, we do face some challenges and headwinds.”
Citing protectionist sentiment, trade conflict and Brexit as weighing negatively on global confidence, Mr Morrison said the G20 Summit to be held this week would be an important opportunity for US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to resolve ongoing trade tensions.
Domestically though, he said regional droughts and floods, moderation in the housing marketing as well as credit tightening had led to subdued economic activity, but predicted that confidence would return now that the federal election had passed.
“Our job post-election is now very clear,” he said.
“Get Australians off the economic sidelines and on the field again.”
Tax cuts a key priority for the government
Mr Morrison chose to make the LNP’s promised tax cuts the centrepiece of his speech, calling the first stage of the legislation set to be introduced in the next parliament part of a long-term plan to flatten the tax system and fight against bracket creep.
Under the proposed legislation, he said the middle tax bracket would more closely align with corporate tax rates, with the ultimate goal being for 94 per cent of Australians to pay a maximum marginal tax rate of no more than 30 cents in the dollar by 2024-25.
While opposition leader Anthony Albanese has said his party will support the first two stages, Mr Morrison criticised the ALP for not “let[ting] Australians keep more of their own money”.
While the prime minister admitted that the tax cuts were a centrepiece of the government’s economic agenda, he said they were not the whole story, citing a $100 billion infrastructure investment program.
“Here in WA we’ve committed more than $13.6 billion since we came to office and we’re getting on with new projects – including further upgrades to the Tonkin Highway, and improvements for the Oats Street, Welshpool Road and Mint Street Level Crossing Removals as part of Metronet,” Mr Morrison said.
“Since our re-election, I have already met with Ppemiers in NSW and Victoria to take stock, get a common view on project timetables, priorities and to do lists.
“While here in WA, I will be meeting with Premier [Mark] McGowan to do the same.
“The last thing we want is project delays leading to more congestion and greater costs.”
Mr Morrison criticises regulation, ALP, offers praise for Trump
Mr Morrison also made regulation a focal point of his speech, referring at one point to “animal spirits” in the economy that could only be provoked through removing red tape.
In doing so, he offered praise to US President Donald Trump, whose administration has prioritised rolling back regulation to boost economic growth.
“While reducing taxes has had a major impact in the US, it was actually the Trump administration’s commitment to cutting red tape and transforming the regulatory mind set of the bureaucracy that delivered their first wave of improvement in their economy,” he said.
“When we came to power in 2013, our government launched its ‘Cutting Red Tape’ Initiative.
“Working across every government department in Canberra, we set ourselves the goal of reducing the burden of regulation on the economy by $1 billion each and every year.
“Between September 2013 and December 2016, this initiative yielded red tape savings of $5.8 billion.
“There is a clear need to improve approvals timeframes and reduce regulatory costs, but in many cases regulators are making things worse.”
Having tasked WA’s Ben Morton with regulatory reform, Mr Morrison said the government would focus on asking questions from the perspective of business rather than through setting targets for departments.
“By focusing on regulation from the viewpoint of business, we will identify the regulations and bureaucratic processes that impose the largest costs on key sectors of the economy and the biggest hurdles to letting those investments flow,” he said.
“What are the barriers, blockages and bottlenecks? How do we get things moving?”
Referring to incidents involving the CFMMEU, he criticised the ALP for not adopting the same policy stance, claiming that if the party were elected at the last federal election, it would have given “free reign” to “militant unions”.
“Our government is committed to enforcing the rule of law on Australian work sites,” he said.
“All Australian businesses have the right to expect that they can go about their work without being subject to bullying and disruption.”
