{"id":69006,"date":"2023-12-17T18:28:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T18:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talkcelnews.com\/?p=69006"},"modified":"2023-12-17T18:28:13","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T18:28:13","slug":"we-have-done-more-chalmers-vows-to-reform-economy-with-big-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talkcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/we-have-done-more-chalmers-vows-to-reform-economy-with-big-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We have done more\u2019: Chalmers vows to reform economy with big agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers has slammed critics who claim he has failed to reform the economy and lift the nation\u2019s growth, pointing to dozens of changes as proof that Labor has done more in one year than others did in a decade.<\/p>\n
Promising more reform in the year ahead, Chalmers said the government would consider further help on the cost of living in the May budget and cited the recent increase in real wages as a sign that Labor was delivering results for households.<\/p>\n
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says economic management must be a core strength for Labor.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused the government of caving to the unions on workplace laws, while the Greens call on it to repeal the $313 billion \u201cstage three\u201d tax cuts and economists have called for tougher decisions on tax and competition.<\/p>\n Frustrated with claims he was not doing enough, Chalmers listed dozens of changes including higher taxes on oil and gas exporters and lower tax concessions on big superannuation funds, as well as the $22 billion budget surplus.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have done more economic reform in the last year than we\u2019ve seen in Australia in the last decade,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cRight across the board, we are making our economy more modern, and we\u2019re recognising that the economy that got us the last 30 years of prosperity isn\u2019t going to deliver us the next 30 years of prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n Chalmers said critics were showing the \u201cmuscle memory\u201d of complaints about previous governments that had not delivered significant change.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has applied to governments of the past, it just doesn\u2019t happen to apply to our government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defining theme for us is modernisation \u2013 we are modernising our economy, across so many different areas, and I think that those reforms will pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if this meant Australians should expect more reform in 2024, the treasurer agreed there would be a focus on new measures in the rest of this term of parliament.<\/p>\n \u201cI think inevitably, in the life of any government, but perhaps particularly a first-term government, the balance shifts over time from cleaning up after your predecessors and implementing your election commitments \u2013 it shifts towards building on your achievements,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s internal list of major results and reforms includes the creation of 620,000 new jobs, the easing of inflation in recent quarters, the increase in real wages in the past two quarters, the first surplus in 15 years and the commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor has blamed the government for weak productivity and a higher cost of living this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is crushing households, absolutely crushing households \u2013rising taxes, rising mortgage payments, rising prices,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n With Labor losing ground to the Coalition in opinion polls, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released a video on social media on the weekend to highlight these outcomes as well as energy rebates for households, free entry to many TAFE courses and a cut to the cost of medicine by doubling the timeframe for pharmaceutical scripts from 30 to 60 days.<\/p>\n In one example of the concern about an absence of reform, the Australian Financial Review<\/em> marked the anniversary of the floating of the Australian dollar in 1983 with an editorial about the \u201cdog\u2019s breakfast\u201d of federal-state relations and said the was no \u201cbrave new world of prosperity\u201d on the political horizon.<\/p>\n Independent economist Saul Eslake said Labor should attempt more ambitious reform but said Chalmers was \u201cnot completely wrong\u201d to say this government had achieved more than the last one.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m struggling to think of any significant economic reform that the previous government did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Eslake said two examples the Coalition might name as reforms \u2013 setting up a different company tax rate for small businesses and spending more federal funds on GST proceeds to the states \u2013 were public policy mistakes.<\/p>\n The GST top-up was meant to cost $2.3 billion over three years but is costing at least $30 billion and was extended at a national cabinet meeting this month.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government has done what I would call worthwhile but minor reform,\u201d Eslake said, citing the changes to super, childcare and taxes on oil and gas, but he said Chalmers had a chance to set out greater ambitions before the next election.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a reforming government, yet. Let\u2019s see him put the case for a bold agenda at the next election, because if they do not do it then they will probably never do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Another independent economist, Chris Richardson, said the government\u2019s reforms had been \u201cpretty modest\u201d but that this was not a surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cOne reason is we change governments when the incoming lot promise they won\u2019t do much \u2013 we elect small targets, and so the mandates are small,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNumber two is when governments do make changes, they lose more skin than used to be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n Richardson said the priority reforms for this government should include policies to inject more competition into the economy, improve federal financial relations with the states and expand the housing supply.<\/p>\n He also noted that some of the most important reforms had been done \u2013 \u201cyou can only float the Australian dollar once\u201d \u2013 and this made further change more complex.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. 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