Speech titled ‘Making Federalism Work: The Economic Imperatives’ delivered on 12 September 2008 by Robert Milliner, Chairman, Business Council of Australia Business Reform Task Force to the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.

It will come as no surprise to anyone here that the Business Council of Australia considers reform of our federal–state relations to be an economic imperative.

But it’s more than that.

Making federalism work is a prosperity imperative.

Poor federal–state relations impact people’s lives, as well as their pockets. Poor federal–state relations cost businesses time and money, and distracts them from more productive activities.

All these things detract from Australia’s long-term prosperity goals.

The ambitions set by the 2020 Summit were:

• to be the best place in the world to live and work; and
• to have a GDP per capita ranking among the top five nations.

To achieve those 2020 Summit ambitions, we need to make our federal system operate to the benefit, not the detriment, of all businesses and employees – regardless of their location.

Download the full speech, ‘Making Federalism Work: The Economic Imperatives’, using the link below.

Making Federalism Work: The Economic Imperatives: Speech by Robert Milliner to the Australia and New Zealand School of Government