Ahead of his economic roundtable to boost the economy’s flagging productivity, Albo channels former Labor PMs Hawke and Keating with a commitment to the business sector.

Ask any good Artificial Intelligence these days and it'll tell you that business wants the Albanese Government to foster “robust” growth via significant reforms. Ahead of his economic roundtable to boost the economy’s flagging productivity, the Prime Minister has made a very un-Labor-like commitment to the business sector.

This big promise comes as President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, also called the mega-tax bill, was passed by the House of Representatives. And a better-than-expected jobs report has again powered US stocks higher into record-level territory.

One has to ponder if this upcoming productivity talkfest will ultimately take our stock market higher in August, when the results of the Economic Reform Roundtable wrap up.

Today’s Australian summarises what the PM is signing up for with the following:

“Anthony Albanese will declare it is time for big employers and small business owners to resume their rightful place as primary drivers of the economy and acknowledge government 'doing less' would unleash the private sector, as he lays the ground for Labor’s economic reform roundtable.”

This implies that along with immigration, the public sector with its infrastructure projects (such as metros, new roads, airports, etc. and a surge in the hiring of public servants) has kept the Australian economy growing, especially since Covid killed the private sector with lockdowns, global supply chain blockages and collapse of trade worldwide.

In his National Press Club speech last month, the PM outlined what he thought was important to boost productivity, which included faster housing and energy approvals, a better skills system, more user-friendly government services, and regulation to balance the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence.

But what does business actually want?

Try these reforms for starters:

1. Less red tape.
2. Better regulation.
3. Incentives for small business to boost innovation.
4. Incentives for research and development.
5. Tax changes to boost incentives for business growth investments.
6. An economically sensible approach to AI restrictions that unions will be demanding.
7. A better commitment from the Government compared to the Jobs and Skills Summit, which business didn’t agree with and argued would stifle productivity, with the reforms imposed on business driven by the unions.

Economists refer to the excessive involvement of a government in the economy as “crowding out”, where the public sector competes for resources (including borrowed funding) with the private sector. This drives up interest rates and wages for all and creates disincentives for the private sector.

This roundtable on August 19-21 in Canberra will be a huge test of the credibility of Anthony Albanese after this undertaking to put the private sector ‘front and centre’ of the push to grow this country by boosting productivity.

Let’s hope the PM and his team don’t act like the political leaders once described by the USSR President, Nikita Krushchev, who reminded us that: “Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.”