Treasurer Jim Chalmers wants roundtable outcomes reached by consensus … and he already knows what that should be. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The Federal Government’s productivity talkfest is underway at Parliament House today (19 August) and it’s clear from the outset that it is already a different beast from what it was initially envisioned to be.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he wants consensus from those sitting around the table discussing Australia’s future, but there is a slim chance of that happening in any genuine form.
There are simply too many opposing agendas, loud voices and big egos in the room.
Agreement couldn’t even be reached on what to call the three-day summit – and that was only from within the government’s own ranks.
What was loudly touted as a productivity roundtable suddenly (and quietly) got slapped with the name Economic Reform Roundtable as the conversation morphed from productivity to taxation.
Once the Treasurer let loose during one of his National Press Club appearances that no discussion about productivity could be had without including talk of tax reform, the meeting’s agenda took on a whole new life.
It’s not wildly off the mark to suggest the agenda even got somewhat hijacked.
Suddenly, everyone with the slightest interest in the event began discussing taxes they would like to see changed, dropped, introduced, increased, or decreased.
Those invited to take part in the summit began issuing statements and holding media conferences about what must be the roundtable’s priorities; some even demanded that certain outcomes had to be reached for it to be considered a success.
That could have been an intentional ploy on the part of the government, because the discussions heating up on the journey to this three-day gathering have now built an expectation that some new form of levies (read taxes) will be gifted to the Australian people once it’s all over.
The government will be able to reference (blame) the roundtable when explaining the need for these extra imposts.
But exactly what they might be is supposedly still to be determined right now. There is certainly no shortage of suggestions.
Some fresh ideas have come from the Productivity Commission, which was commissioned to prepare a number of papers to be bandied around the table.
On some fronts, they have included significant forward thinking worth canvassing over the three days.
Others of its proposals are controversially provocative, like the suggestion that copyright laws not be applied to artificial intelligence, allowing AI platforms to rip off the creators of Australian content – writers, musicians, artists, etc.
If that is how productivity is to be enhanced in this country, the future looks disturbing.
With all the grandstanding taking place over the last days and weeks, however, it is hard to see how any outcome from this week’s roundtable will be reached by unanimous vote.
Unions butting heads against the business lobby, while everyone is tripping over the NGO community sector on the way in isn’t the formula for consensus.
Then there’s the outright politics of it all.
Deputy Opposition Leader Ted O’Brien is in the room.
That’s a nice (unavoidable) gesture on the part of the government to include the Coalition in the discussions, but does anyone believe Mr O’Brien is going to emerge from them patting Labor on the back over a job well done?
We’ve also had some leaks from Treasury.
The leaked advice (some last week and some today) contains a series of recommendations from the Economic Reform Roundtable – in other words, recommendations from a meeting that hasn’t even yet begun.
While the government says recommendations are a ‘routine’ part of the preparation process, the Coalition is crying foul.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is now suggesting the whole roundtable is a ruse with a predetermined outcome favoured by Labor.
“There are further leaks today that say this whole exercise is being choreographed,” she told Nine’s Today show.
“It’s all been lined up. Statements are ready to go out. People are going there in good faith, and they want to see outcomes.
“They want to see us growing the economic pie, and they want to see Australians pay less tax and be rewarded for their effort.
“And I fear that none of those things are actually on the agenda at this productivity roundtable.”
It’s probably a wise thing then that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spent the past few days hosing down suggestions the roundtable is designed to do anything more than implement the ‘mandate’ he was already handed at this year’s election.
