I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.
I’m delighted to be here tonight to celebrate the contribution that the businesses and workers represented in this room make to our national prosperity.
It’s fitting that we are gathered in the magnificent National Gallery - because your organisation has a proud history of looking at the big picture.
You engage with the detail of policy, the here and now.
But you also take the broad view, you recognise the global circumstances we have to manage and the global opportunities we must work together to seize.
I understand that this decade has brought more than its fair share of challenges for business.
The economic aftershocks of pandemic and conflict.
Disrupted supply chains, shortages in critical skills and a worldwide surge in inflation and energy prices.
In the face of this global uncertainty, the businesses and workers represented here tonight have shown extraordinary resilience.
And when we look at our economy today, we can be optimistic that the rewards of that resilience are now in sight.
There is new cause to hope that the worst is behind us.
The inflation figures tell that story.
Two years ago, annual inflation had a 6 in front of it and was rising.
Today, it has a 2 in front of it and it’s falling.
Inflation is down to its lowest level in nearly four years.
Consumer confidence is turning around.
Business investment is up.
Real wages are up.
The participation rate is at a record high.
The gender pay gap is at an all-time low.
Over one million new jobs have been created.
And consecutive budget surpluses have been delivered.
This is a set of achievements in which everyone here can take a measure of pride.
More importantly it’s a record of performance from which we can draw confidence in facing what’s ahead.
Together, we have navigated a global storm.
And even in rough seas, we’ve kept an eye on the horizon.
Dealing with the challenges in front of us, in a way that seeks to anticipate and create a better future for all of us.
All of you have shared in this national effort.
You’ve done more than keep your doors open.
You’ve created new jobs, invested in new energy, new technology and new drivers of productivity.
You’ve embraced the opportunity to take your products and services to new markets, in our region and around the world.
You have done your part – and my colleagues and I have worked to do ours.
Creating Jobs and Skills Australia and investing in TAFE and apprenticeships.
Two policies to which ACCI gave strong public support.
In the past two years, over half a million Australians have enrolled in fee-free TAFE.
And on the weekend in Adelaide, I announced our Government would be making free TAFE permanent, nationwide.
100,000 fee-free places, each and every year.
Young Australians training for a career.
Older workers re-training for new opportunities.
And business benefiting from the skills and knowledge of both.
TAFE is vital for the construction industry and the caring economy.
It is also essential for the technology sector, the hundreds of thousands of workers we need to strengthen our cyber security and drive our digital transformation.
For the same reason, we’re doubling the number of university hubs in our regions and suburbs, taking higher education to communities where people were missing out.
We are fixing indexation on student debt – wiping $3 billion that 3 million students incurred as a result of the one-off spike in inflation and making sure that can’t happen again.
We’re reforming the repayment threshold – and the rates - to boost take home pay for young Australians, so people don’t have to start paying off their university until university starts paying off for them.
And we are cutting 20 per cent off the student debt of everyone who has one, saving a typical graduate over $5,500.
These new initiatives are at the heart of our plan to drive the change our nation needs and create the opportunities our people deserve.
Helping people under pressure, rewarding effort, nourishing aspiration – and building for the future.
The University Accord which ACCI has engaged with in a very considered and detailed way – underlines a truth that all of us understand.
It’s never just the individual who benefits when we make it easier to access education - our whole nation gains from it.
When we invest in education, we’re investing in a more productive workforce.
A more creative and innovative culture, new research and technology.
The breakthroughs that become products and the discoveries that become industries.
The tradies and electricians, engineers and programmers we need to build and plan our future prosperity.
All of this is why TAFE and university are fundamental to Australia’s economic future.
Because we need to boost productivity. This is a long-running challenge and a long-term one.
In the decade to 2020, productivity growth in Australia was the lowest in 60 years.
In the five years leading up to the pandemic, the rate of productivity growth fell every year.
There’s no single, simple fix to turn this around.
But there are things that will make a valuable difference.
The work we are doing with the ACCC and in merger reform, is about strengthening transparency and competition.
This will deliver a better deal for consumers but also create a more level playing field for businesses.
A more dynamic environment that rewards innovation and drives greater productivity.
Cheaper child care is a productivity measure too.
An investment in future generations and their early learning – but also an economic reform that delivers greater choice and flexibility for parents balancing family and career.
That helps participation as well.
And so do the changes we’ve made to the tax cuts we inherited.
By delivering a tax cut for all 13.6 million taxpayers, our plan boosted labour supply and participation by creating greater incentive for low and middle income earners and part-time workers to take-on more hours.
Good for working parents and young people – and good for business and the economy as well.
Of course, one of the biggest challenges faced by businesses and households alike over the past few years has been the worldwide surge in energy prices.
From day one, we’ve made it a priority to restore certainty after years of chopping and changing.
Legislating our 2030 emissions reduction target and our commitment to net zero by 2050 – and, just as importantly, laying out the clear framework that will get us to these goals.
Our Safeguard Mechanism, incentivising firms to invest in technology that will reduce their emissions.
Our Capacity Investment Scheme, mobilising private capital to support the roll-out of large-scale renewables and storage.
This is bringing new, cleaner and cheaper power into our national energy grid.
It’s attracting new investment to our nation, from energy generators to global digital and technology firms.
And there’s a very clear connection between those two sectors.
The new data centres that will help drive the next wave of economic growth need a first, class fibre National Broadband Network and they need affordable and reliable clean energy that is ready to go, right now.
Ahead of tonight, I was reflecting that the first time I spoke to ACCI as Prime Minister two years ago, many of us had just returned from the G20 and B20 forums in Bali.
That was also where I had my first meeting with President Xi.
At the time, the first leader to leader meeting between Australia and the People’s Republic of China for 6 years.
Today, the patient, calibrated work we have done to stabilise the relationship with China has seen over $20 billion in trade impediments removed from Australian farmers, growers, miners and winemakers.
And while we have worked together to re-open those channels with our largest trading partner, so many businesses in this room have been key ambassadors in our efforts to diversify and deepen Australia’s trade links across South East Asia.
Seeking out those new markets, using your connections and your presence to advance Australia’s interests.
Taken together, South East Asia will be the 4th largest economy in the world by 2040.
Yet up until now it has been home to only 4 per cent of our investment.
Your efforts are critical to converting that potential into prosperity.
Because while Australia is a great trading nation – we can be an even better one.
We do that by building on our traditional partnerships and enduring strengths – and going beyond them.
This is not a matter of choosing one region or another, or prioritising a particular industry over another.
It’s not a question of risk mitigation, or hedging our bets.
It’s about building our supply chain resilience and boosting our economic and energy security.
In global trade, as in our local economy – diversity is strength.
Diversity in what we trade, diversity in who we trade with and diversity in the products we make and the services we can offer the world.
This is where our strategy for greater engagement with Asia, fits together with our vision for a Future Made in Australia.
The tax credits and incentives our Government is putting on the table so we can convert our critical minerals and clean energy into a source of comparative advantage.
Powering a new generation of manufacturing and value-adding.
Making the most of the global imperative to reach net zero.
Making things here – competing and succeeding in the world, our way.
With a skilled workforce and dynamic business sector offering high-value services and high-quality products.
I said at the beginning that ACCI sees the big picture.
You also call it as it you see it – and I respect that.
I value the constructive engagement I’ve had with people in this room going back many years.
The perspective you bring to the national policy debate and your willingness to be participants and advocates, not merely observers.
Our democracy is healthier for that – and our economy is stronger for it.
And while there are areas where we will have our differences, when you look through energy policy, skills, education, trade, engagement with the region, there is a strong and broad foundation that we have built together and that we can build on together.
We’re here tonight in a place that celebrates the creativity and genius of Australians.
Like our continent, the collection looks back tens of thousands of years. Starting with art from the oldest continuous culture in the world.
And like Australia, it looks out to the world and our place in it.
It says we can be the home of the best, we can embrace every culture and tradition and nourish our own unique identity.
In the years ahead, I’m sure we will face new tests.
There will still be problems to solve, challenges to meet, people under pressure who need our help.
But I can assure you, I’ve never been more optimistic about Australia’s future.
And my colleagues have never been more determined to deliver for the workers, businesses and nation we serve.
We look forward to continuing to work with all of you, in this vital task.