This is a critical time in our successful transition from the mining investment boom to a more diversified economy. We must maintain the growing momentum in the economy and ensure that we capitalise on this once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to set ourselves up for the future.
There is no escaping the fact that future growth in the average income of Australians relies largely on our ability to boost the performance of our economy. So, there has never been a more important time to focus on innovation, productivity and incentive in our economy. That is critical to backing Australians as we transition in this new economy — in our new economy.
Over the next few decades, the challenge for Australia is to raise standards of living through economic growth. We must continue to boost productivity and encourage higher workforce participation to drive future economic growth.
Sources of growth in real national income per person
Note: The hatched area represents the additional labour productivity required to achieve long run average growth in real gross national income per capita. Source: ABS Cat. No. 5206.0 and Treasury.
Sustained productivity growth is central to increasing living standards and reducing the fiscal pressure from growing debt and deficit. This underscores the importance of the Government’s reform agenda, which is squarely focused on enhancing our productive potential and growth rates by investing in infrastructure, reducing regulatory burdens, improving competition policy and reforming the tax system.
Innovation is the key to productivity and the Government is supporting enterprise and the continued dynamism of the modern economy through the ideas boom, and especially through FinTech.
We need to back the individuals, businesses and organisations generating new products and services that create value. New and improved offerings, products or technologies create new markets, improve efficiency and lead to greater prosperity.
We need to create new and better paying jobs in growing industries and back existing industries to better compete on the global stage.