Event: Joint press conference with BCA, ACCI, AI Group, COSBOA at Parliament House, Canberra
Speakers:
– Business Council of Australia, Chief Executive Bran Black;
– Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, CEO Andrew McKellar;
– Australian Industry Group, Chief Executive Innes Willox
– Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, Chair Matthew Addison
Date: 21 August 2025
Topics: Economic Reform Roundtable, business investment
E&OE
Bran Black, BCA: Thank you very much. Well, we’re here for business groups who were represented in the Roundtable over the course of the last three days, and we’ve stood together at the beginning of the week and indicated that we would be advocating for policies that supported business growth in order to drive national living standards.
We’ve done that consistently throughout the last three days, and we represent businesses right around Australia, from retailers through to manufacturers, banks, miners, pharmacists, small businesses, big businesses. We’ve represented them, and we’ve sought to do that in the room during the course of the Roundtable.
We’ve seen that there’s been important progress in a number of key areas, specifically in relation to red tape, in relation to housing, we’ve seen progress in terms of trade and also, importantly, in relation to skills, and that is most welcome. We’ve also seen that there is more work to do in relation to tax. There is a process in that regard.
But we will stress that in tax, as with everything else, our test for success will remain the same, does it increase business investment. That is the single best way of lifting living standards and improving the quality of life for all Australians.
I just want to take a final moment to thank the Prime Minister and the Treasurer and the other colleagues around the Roundtable for the collaborative way in which they engaged. It was very much appreciated. This has been an important process, and most importantly, it sets us a bit of a course for how we can go about progressing real action over the course of the next months and years ahead, it’s time for the rubber to hit the road.
Innes Willox, AI Group: Firstly, want to thank the Treasurer for the way that he approached these past three days. He approached them with very good faith and clear intentions of getting positive outcomes for all Australians, and that was refreshing. The conversations were engaging, they were outcome-focused and results-oriented.
We came here to create a better Australia, a better Australia that was more productive, a place for business investment, a place for people to gain the skills that they need for the jobs of not just now, but also of the future. We came here recognising that our economy is facing significant challenge, and the systems that we have in place right now at the moment aren’t going to cut it for the future.
It was really important to recognise that we needed to think bigger and bolder and a little bit differently as to how we face those challenges. What we’ve got out of today and the past couple of days is a clear intent to tackle some of the bigger, thornier issues that the country is confronting. We need Australia to be more investable, more productive and more skilled, and we are very hopeful, if not confident, that what has been achieved over these past three days will set us on the road to achieving that outcome.
We wanted an outcome where we were focused on results, we were focused on deployment of services, and where we were focused on reducing complexity. And I think on all three counts, we’ve made progress. Nothing was going to be achieved in three days that was going to be earth-shattering or change the world as we knew it. But what we’ve been able to do is working with others, on behalf of Australia’s businesses from across the board, is to set up a very clear pathway for the future.
We need to recognise that there is a lot more work to be done. The Treasurer faithfully and clearly laid out some of the work that has to be done in the weeks and months ahead. All of us represented here are up for that challenge and up for that task. We’ll be here to inform government approaches and government policy and work with governments, with government representatives, as they undertake the tasks that have been set out for them.
It’s been a very productive three days. It’s easy to be cynical. You know that not much was achieved, or we should have done more, or we haven’t upended the world and made things easier. We’ve started on a pathway of making Australia a better place to work and to invest. It’s a lot of work to be done around tax, with recognition that we need to make that our tax system work better for business, and we’ll get down and do the hard work to achieve that.
We need a simpler, fairer tax system that’s been laid out. We also need to address some of the challenges we have in the overall tax system for working Australians, and we’re up for that task.
It’s been a productive three days, and want to thank the Treasurer again and the Prime Minister for pulling this together. The hard work now begins. Thank you.
Andrew McKellar, ACCI: I’d also like to say, I mean, we came into these three days for this Economic Reform Roundtable with some very clear objectives. We wanted to see outcomes that would encourage stronger business investment for the future, that would help us get the productivity outcomes that we need if we’re going to boost living standards, if we’re going to have stronger better jobs for the future, better wages, better profits, better outcomes for business as well.
So I think what we’ve done is tangibly move the markers down field on that. We’ve made our progress across a broad range of fronts. There’s been an opportunity for the business representatives in the Roundtable to put forward very practical suggestions, and I think we’ve seen a positive response as the Treasurer has outlined.
Important work to be undertaken immediately in areas like simplifying the trade system, addressing barriers and obstacles to trade at a time when world markets are struggling with some of those issues, we’re seeing increased protectionism around the world, and I think this is a great example for Australia to be setting for importers and exporters.
Equally practical moves to accelerate the rate of building new homes, to address things like the National Construction Code, which is unwieldy. It’s a massive piece of red tape that is holding back the supply of housing in Australia. So to see practical moves in areas like that, I think is very welcome.
Clear commitment to accelerate the process of reforming the EPBC, being able to get clear and fast answers in terms of future major projects and project approval, so practical outcomes there, good discussion on tax and again, as the Treasurer outlined, a clear recognition that incentives for business investment and growth have to be part of that discussion in terms of how we reform the tax system going forward.
So I think we fully commend the work of the Treasurer and the Treasury and his team. It’s been, I think, an outstanding process, one that’s engaged all of the stakeholders very positively. We want to see the Government developing an ambitious agenda for reform that will drive productivity and economic growth in the years ahead. They’ve taken a very consultative approach to this. We appreciate that, and we want to continue forward in the spirit that we’ve had in the past three days. Thank you.
Matthew Addison, COSBOA: In addition to the matters mentioned by my colleagues, when I talk to small business, that sole trader, that individual who works for themselves, the mum and dad businesses, they talk about being buried in red tape, the complexity of regulation, and one of the matters that the Treasurer has confirmed is a change to the approach in creating regulation for all business. So to look at regulating for growth rather than for risk.
So, we have a different approach to the future way government interacts with business. Another major pillar was the development of the AI national priority, and to work on how Australia should implement AI, how we should grow as a result, how we will get business investment as a result of using AI techniques.
I also thank the Treasurer, thank his teams for the conduct of these three days, the dedication of Government towards improving business in Australia, business investment is what we need. We can achieve better productivity as a result of business growth. Thank you.
Journalist: Can I ask what’s your understanding of what happens now in terms of the tax system?
Bran: So I think what was clear is that there were three principles that the Treasurer is working towards in terms of progressing that process, and for us, we will now engage with the process, once that becomes clarified. And critically, I really emphasise the point that we have to continue to advocate for policies in taxation and taxation reform that drive business investment.
We’ve been absolutely crystal clear right from the outset that anything that comes out of this roundtable has to be measured against that standard. So notwithstanding that there are three priority areas in terms of sustainability, in terms of intergenerational equity and in terms of business investment. Ultimately, it all hangs together by making sure that our economy grows, that we were able to support that intergenerational fairness with an increased pie, that everybody can enjoy. Business investment is key.
Journalist: How disappointed are you that we’re not going to get a tax relief out of this process?
Bran: Well, I’ll make some comments, and then I’ll pass over to my colleagues. I think what we’re seeing is that there is a commitment to advance a process that we hope will deliver outcomes that are meaningful from a tax reform perspective.
Now, if we have another tax reform review that will take a long period of time, and one of the points that was very clear throughout the conversations that we’ve had over the last three days is that there’s not a lot of new policy ideas that have come forward. What’s happened is that there’s been recognition that certain policy points need to be advanced as real priority areas.
If we have a review that slows things down. If we can get on with the task of recognising that tax is a priority and trying to find areas with which we can find agreement and consensus and certainly putting ideas forward to Government, then that, I think, is the best way to go.
Andrew: Quick comment on that point. Look, I think the three broad areas that the Treasurer identified in which came out of the meeting around those issues that are fair go, the intergenerational equity issues, incentivising business investment and growth, and I guess the simplifying the tax system and the way that it operates and making it more effective. Those are quite comprehensive, and I think that gives us a lot of opportunity to bring forward further ideas.
I think beyond that, it’s a matter for Government as to how they take that process forward. And I think the way that’s been outlined, there was consensus in the room that I think that would give the opportunity for substantive issues to be examined and brought forward for the future.
Innes: I was just going to say, look, coming out of the room was a clear sense that we have to act with urgency. The notion of a review would be slower and perhaps a little bit more cumbersome. We don’t have time to waste, and so we’re committed to working with the Government as quickly as possible to get work underway around those three areas that have been identified.
There was agreement there the three priority areas, and now we have to get some work done. The Government’s got to work through its processes. The commitment there is to come back and work with us and everyone else in the room, to move forward, to advance the ball on those three priority areas. Obviously from a business perspective, purely business tax and a simpler, more sustainable tax system are priorities, but so is the notion around a more equitable, long-term taxation system for all. They’re all interlinked in a way, so we’re going to take that work away, work with the Government and work to the pace of the Government, but they’ve made it pretty clear these are front-of-mind issues for them.
Journalist: I was just going to ask as well, for the Jobs and Skills Summit there was a feeling from business afterwards that it was a bit of a stitch up.
Now, coming out of this, how do you feel about this process? How do you feel about being able to work with unions, being able to work with the governments, to come up with something collaborative…
Innes: Yeah, three points. I still have nightmares about the Jobs and Skills Summit. I’ve still got the scars, having lived through it. This was a totally different process, a totally different feel and vibe, if I can use the word.
There was a very clear commitment from the Government to get consensus where it could, agreement where it could, and understandings where it could, to bring everyone together. So the atmospherics were totally different.
There’s also a very clear commitment out of this to work with everyone in the room to advance these issues. Three years ago, we walked out of the room with a done deal, wondering what had happened. Well, we knew what had happened. We saw it happen. Don’t get that sense this time.