CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES, SYDNEY, NSW
Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today, and can I acknowledge Michael Stutchbury and the team at the Centre for Independent Studies for the important work you do in shaping our national conversation.
To my colleagues from both the federal and state parliaments, thank you for being here today.
Our nation stands at a turning point.
For the first time in living memory, productivity and living standards are sliding backwards.
Over the past decade, productivity growth has fallen to its weakest rate in 60 years.
Now, productivity is not about working longer hours or pushing harder on the tools. Australians already do that.
I know this from my own life, working a second and sometimes third job to improve my flying qualifications, picking up 800 fleeces a day in the shearing sheds of western Queensland, and raising my three children during recession and drought in the 1990s.
Productivity is about making every effort count, about getting the most from every personal endeavour.
When productivity grows, wages lift, the cost of living eases, and governments can fund the services Australians rely on without higher taxes.
But when productivity stalls, or falls, the opposite takes hold.
Families keep working as hard as ever, yet their pay does not go as far.
Today, real household disposable income per capita is six per cent lower than when Labor came to government in 2022.
OECD data shows that Australia has had the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world.
It feels like Australians are running faster and faster only to stand still.
That is the reality people face, and it is not acceptable.
A Post-COVID Recovery Squandered
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
The Coalition left office with unemployment at 3.9 per cent, the lowest in almost 50 years, and record revenues flowing into the Treasury thanks to a rebounding economy and strong commodity prices.
But that opportunity has been squandered by Labor.
Pandemic-level spending was treated as the new normal, with no serious effort to rein it in.
And the result?
Inflation that stayed higher for longer, leaving mortgage holders paying around $1,800 more every month.
As former Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe observed:
“After COVID, we haven’t really got back to a clearly articulated framework for decision-making with fiscal policy… It seems to be ‘where there is a need, we’ll spend’.”
A short-lived revenue surge delivered rare surpluses in 2022–23 and 2023–24, but now deficits loom for as far as the eye can see.
At the same time, Labor has piled on new regulatory burdens at the worst possible moment.
According to the Housing Industry Association, just getting environmental approval for a new housing project can take more than four years.
Businesses, especially small and family enterprises, are drowning in red tape.
Tens of thousands of businesses have gone bust since Anthony Albanese was elected in 2022.
And just starting a typical small business, like a café, can involve up to 30 separate regulatory steps.
Instead of stopping this madness, Labor is making things worse.
Their workplace relations changes reward unions with restrictive laws and industry-wide pay settings that wind the clock back to the 1970s.
The Business Council warns these changes “drive down productivity” and threaten investment and innovation.
Yet the government presses ahead with even more industrial regulation, making it harder and harder for businesses to expand, which makes it harder and harder for them to hire new workers.
Anthony Albanese doesn’t understand that a healthy economy must have private sector businesses driving growth and job creation. How could he possibly understand this when under Labor, eight out of every ten new jobs have been created by government, not business.
The Scale of the Challenge – What the Experts Say
You only need to listen to our top economic authorities to understand the scale of the challenge.
In 2023, the Productivity Commission’s landmark five-year inquiry warned that Australia’s productivity growth had “flatlined” — and that without action, the consequences would be severe.
It cautioned that “in the absence of productivity growth, the ‘cost disease’ will worsen and spread,” and noted with government services consuming an ever larger share of the economy and “requiring ever faster productivity growth elsewhere to ‘fund’ it.”
The message from the Productivity Commission was clear: our economy “isn’t working for Australians like it used to,” and unless we change course, future generations will pay the price.
Those warnings have now come true. Labor’s poor policy choices and lack of reform appetite have left Australia exactly where the Commission feared – slower growth, rising costs, and a shrinking capacity to fund the services Australians rely on.
Business leaders share the same concern.
In their 2025 joint submission, 27 major business groups warned that productivity growth over the past decade was the weakest in six decades, and that if we do not fix it, the next generation will miss out on the quality of life we enjoy today.
These are not academic figures.
These are employers and investors watching costs spiral, the investment pipeline dry up, and risk – which is the price of progress – in retreat. The dynamism of our economy is slipping away.
With virtually zero productivity growth so far this decade, we are already well behind the pace needed to meet the Intergenerational Report’s long-term assumption of 1.2 per cent a year.
To course-correct, we would now need more than 2 per cent a year for the rest of the decade – something not achieved in generations.
Even the Reserve Bank has cut its medium-term assumption for productivity growth to just 0.7 per cent, barely half of Treasury’s forecast.
That means slower improvements in living standards than Australians have historically enjoyed.
The Intergenerational Report also highlights rising fiscal pressures from an ageing population, higher health and care costs, and interest payments on debt.
Why does all this matter?
Because, without a productivity boost, Australians will be consigned to a future of lower incomes, higher taxes and harder choices.
That is the very definition of intergenerational unfairness.
The evidence from every quarter reaches the same conclusion.
Labor isn’t working and because of them, neither are a staggering number of Australians – 130,000 – who have entered unemployment since Anthony Albanese was elected.
Australia must act decisively to lift productivity.
Coalition Principles for Prosperity and Reform
Under my leadership, the Liberal and National parties will be guided by enduring principles that have always defined us.
These principles reflect our belief in freedom, choice, aspiration and enterprise; anchored by reward for effort. Government must enable Australians to thrive, not stand in their way.
First, as I outlined in my speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia in Melbourne last month, we will restore fiscal discipline.
Every dollar wasted is borrowed against our children’s future.
Government must live within its means, just as families and businesses do.
That means responsible spending, a sustainable safety net for those who truly need it, and keeping taxes lower so the economy can grow.
Second, we will reward effort and encourage enterprise.
Australia must always be a place where hard work and risk-taking are rewarded, not punished.
That belief is not abstract for me.
It comes from the values instilled in me by the sacrifices of my parents who migrated to Australia, for a new and unknown life. It comes from my own journey, where I took risks to build a future in the country I came to love.
Changing jobs when I had to or when the money ran out; from air traffic controller, to pilot, to shearers cook. Living in a caravan and saving every dollar for a start on the family farm. Embarking on university study with young children, a mountain of debt and all the challenges of life on the land.
Those experiences taught me the dignity of work, the meaning of aspiration, and the conviction that government must reward effort, not punish it. Get out of the way, not stand in the way.
That is why I have always believed that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to keep more of what you earn.
Yet today, Australians are working harder than ever, while tax receipts have climbed to a 19-year high as a share of the economy.
Last year alone, the Albanese Government collected more than $650 billion in taxes.
That’s almost $2 billion every single day, drawn from the hard-work and enterprise of Australian workers, and businesses.
And instead of paying down debt, Labor piles on more taxes, more spending and more waste.
Today I announce that at the next election, the Coalition will take to the people a plan for personal income tax cuts.
We’ll start where the pressure is greatest — low and middle income earners who are feeling the squeeze from higher prices and rising living costs.
This is not a passing policy preference.
It is more than just a commitment to lower taxes.
I have never been more convinced, more determined and more passionate about anything I have ever done in public life than I am today in making this pledge to the Australian people.
Every instinct in my being tells me that Australians should keep more of what they earn.
It is a principle I carry from my life as a farmer, a mother, a tax officer, and now as Leader of the Opposition.
That is why the work of the Shadow Ministry will be anchored in two primary goals: lower personal income taxes and budget repair.
Every time we say no to Labor’s waste, we will look first to return those savings to taxpayers or to strengthen the nation’s finances.
Because every dollar Labor spends is a dollar you have to pay, and so every dollar we save is one we will try to put back in your pocket.
Whilst early work on our tax cuts plan has already begun, we will determine the scale and scope of our eventual package as the final budget position becomes clearer over the next two and a half years.
But during this term, when Labor wastes a dollar and people hear me and my team say we oppose that spending, I want Australians to have this pledge front of mind.
Australia cannot afford to keep drifting away from rewarding effort towards punishing it.
When our greatest prime minister, John Howard, left office, the average worker paid 22.3 per cent of their income in tax.
Today it is 24.3 per cent, and the Parliamentary Budget Office projects it will climb to 27.7 per cent by 2035–36.
That means families working longer hours will see less in their pay packets, small business owners will be pushed into higher brackets sooner, and ambition itself will be taxed away.
We cannot build prosperity, whether it be economic, social, institutional or personal, by taxing its very foundations out of existence.
The answer is living within our means, and recognising and rewarding the effort made by hardworking Australians by enabling them to keep more of what they earn.
Tax relief doesn’t just help everyday Australians struggling with rising living costs.
It is good for our economy, and it’s the right thing to do.
It means that when Australians work hard to get ahead, they’re incentivised rather than penalised.
It means if you work extra hours, take an extra shift, earn a promotion or get a second job, you keep more of what you’ve earned.
Because the money you earn is your money, not the government’s – and you should decide how it’s spent.
Whether that’s getting ahead on your mortgage, spending money on children’s sport, saving for a holiday, setting up a home business on the side, or just paying the bills.
Tax relief is also about backing small businesses, because when there is more money in people’s pockets we know it gets spent in local businesses.
Third, we will keep government focused and targeted.
The Commonwealth should do fewer things and do them better.
People want a Parliament that understands what their life is like and a Government that gets out of their way.
Canberra should never try to be all things to all people.
It must direct help to where it is most needed, instead of wasting money where it’s not.
Programs like Labor’s electric vehicle tax break are not about fairness.
Every dollar wasted convincing someone, who can already afford to buy a car, to buy a specific type of car, is a dollar denied to someone who truly needs our help.
Governments need to ditch the gimmicks and offer practical support for Australians doing it tough.
Fourth, we will act to deliver intergenerational fairness.
Millennials and Gen Z are Australia’s new forgotten generation.
Our duty is to safeguard their opportunities, not saddle them with debt.
At the moment, Australians are paying $50,000 in interest every single minute.
That is money that could have been invested in schools, hospitals, roads – or perhaps most crucially of all for Australia’s new forgotten generation, initiatives to restore the home ownership dream in this country.
We will make decisions with the future in mind, so our next generations inherit opportunity, not a ballooning debt burden.
I don’t want my six grandchildren – all six or under – facing a future of working harder and longer, all to pay for a mountain of debt that they had no role in accruing.
But that’s what they face, because Labor can’t get spending under control today.
Finally, we will back a smaller, enabling government.
Government’s job is to focus on the essentials: secure borders, safe communities, a fair safety net, and a pro-market environment that supports business and jobs.
That means clearing away unnecessary regulation, backing hard work and good ideas and allowing them the freedom to grow.
Above all, relieving Australians from bureaucracy and trusting them to get on with their lives.
These are not slogans.
They are the moral compass that will guide our economic reform agenda.
Because a strong economy is the foundation of a fair society, and you cannot have one without the other.
An Agenda for Productivity and Growth: Initial Policy Directions
Having outlined the principles, let me sketch the initial suite of policy directions the Coalition will pursue to kick-start Australia’s productivity revival.
This is not an exhaustive list or a full election platform.
It’s a set of priority areas where we see both urgent need and realistic opportunity for reform.
Each of these aligns not only with our values but with what independent experts and businesspeople are telling us needs to be done:
Cutting Red Tape
One of the fastest ways to boost investment and productivity is to clear the clogged arteries of regulation that are strangling projects and entrepreneurship.
Whether it’s building critical infrastructure, opening a mine, or starting a new business venture – no project that meets environmental and safety standards should be stuck in limbo for years on end waiting for bureaucratic sign-offs.
Overlapping federal and state assessments must be streamlined.
Regulators must make decisions within a reasonable, clear time frame, bringing Australia into line with best practices overseas.
Our goal is simple: bring down the absurd delays and give investors and communities the certainty they need, crave and deserve.
A broad coalition of industries has identified faster planning and project approvals as one of the top reform priorities for lifting productivity.
As Environment Minister, I was on track to secure the support of state and territory leaders – both Liberal and Labor – from around the country. But Anthony Albanese blocked it at every turn. He never understood the win-win – that you can have projects that build jobs and communities and also protect the environment.
Under a Government I lead, decisions would be delivered with certainty and speed.
Because time is money, and we will save both for the Australian economy by getting things built without unnecessary bureaucratic hold-ups.
But under Labor the story has been the opposite, with regulation piled on at a record pace.
Since Labor came to office they have introduced more than 5,000 new regulations and 400 new laws, adding at least $4.4 billion in extra compliance costs.
To put that in perspective, Australia now has more than 1,200 Acts of Parliament in force.
New Zealand gets by with just over 1,000, and Canada with fewer than 900.
Canada has 14 million more people living in their country than ours, yet we have a third more laws.
That tells you everything about the regulatory culture we are dealing with.
And when Labor claims to be reducing red tape, the results are almost comical.
Their flagship “Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill” promised common-sense relief.
Yet, when you drill into it, the type of burden being lifted was allowing marriage celebrants to use a digital identity to verify paperwork instead of sighting a physical copy.
A small win for 10,000 celebrants, but cold comfort for hundreds of thousands of small businesses drowning in forms, fees and approvals.
Reducing Duplication and Overreach in Regulation
That is why we need a different approach.
One that actually clears the clutter instead of adding to it.
To do this we will be taking a close look at duplicative and excessive regulations that serve no purpose except to cost jobs, innovation and time.
We need to look at federal regulations to identify outdated or overlapping rules, especially where states also regulate.
Every new regulation should be subject to a strict cost–benefit test focused on growth and competitiveness.
Labor should be introducing sunset clauses and automatic reviews so that regulations expire after a set period unless they are expressly renewed.
But in this Parliament alone, they have introduced 51 bills and only 7 have contained an Impact Assessment.
That means 6 out of every 7 bills are tabled with no serious regard for what they mean for Australians and Australian businesses.
We need an approach that stops new rules from becoming permanent barnacles on the economy.
And we are backed by the Productivity Commission, which in its draft recommendations on creating a dynamic and resilient economy, urged government to adopt new principles that support dynamism and hold regulators accountable for delivering growth and innovation.
Further, we’ll make sure that regulators tasked with safeguarding the public interest, from ASIC to the ACCC to the public service departments, actually have a mandate to facilitate business activity.
Regulation should be smart, lean, and routinely pruned – but right now it resembles a dense jungle that Labor just keeps adding to.
Fair, Flexible Workplaces and Modern Industrial Relations
A productive economy in the 2020s and beyond needs modern, flexible workplace arrangements – arrangements that allow employers and employees to adapt, innovate, and find win-win gains in productivity.
Unfortunately, the current government’s approach has been to double down on a 20th-century, centralised industrial relations mindset dictated by a few unaccountable union leaders.
Labor’s restrictive industrial relations changes are acting as a handbrake on productivity.
Multi-employer bargaining laws are threatening small businesses with conditions they cannot afford.
Labor’s push to legislate one-size-fits-all approaches across whole sectors ignores the needs of many employers and workers.
We will chart a different course.
We believe in enterprise-level bargaining – where businesses and their staff can strike agreements that reward higher performance and suit their circumstances – rather than industry-wide decrees.
We believe in options like flexible hours, remote work arrangements, and modern award structures that reflect today’s digital economy.
Let me be very clear: we support ‘work-from-home’.
This is something that we got wrong in the lead up to the 2025 election. And we have listened.
We know employers and employees will take a common-sense approach.
Different arrangements suit different industries, sectors, businesses and workers.
I want to give Australian workers this assurance: flexibility does not mean stripping away worker protections; it means giving workers more choice in how they balance work and life, and giving businesses the ability to test new ideas, attract talent, and reward merit.
As the Productivity Commission highlighted: a “thriving, adaptable workforce” is key to innovation and higher wages.
A fair and balanced industrial relations system would create more jobs and more productivity gains. These gains, shared between workers and businesses, provide the foundations for higher living standards and economic growth.
Smarter Skills and a Digital-Ready Workforce
Human capital, the skills and ingenuity of our people, is the most important resource for productivity.
To build a more skilled and adaptable workforce, we need to revisit Australia’s approach to tertiary education and training.
This means working closely with industry to ensure vocational training and higher education are more closely aligned and actually equip people with the skills and knowledge for the modern economy, whether in advanced manufacturing, IT, healthcare, or the trades.
It also means incentivising upskilling, so that workers can adapt as technology evolves – particularly with the rise of AI, which presents so much opportunity.
We will look at reforms recommended by experts in the field: for instance, implementing a Skills Passport, making it easier for Australians to access short courses to acquire new skills quickly, and better integrating our university and vocational systems with employers’ needs.
Just as business shouldn’t wait for lengthy environmental and regulatory approvals, tertiary providers shouldn’t be waiting months or years for approvals, especially for new scope or new courses to meet changing workforce needs.
We must also dramatically improve our performance in foundational areas like STEM education which underpin so many high-productivity industries.
At the same time, Australia needs to become a leader in harnessing the data and digital economy for growth.
We will support measures that encourage businesses of all sizes to adopt new technologies, from AI to cloud computing, by removing barriers and providing targeted incentives for digital innovation.
The Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Australia’s data and digital future spoke of capturing the “digital dividend” of new ideas – we intend to capture it.
Because a smarter skills agenda is not just social policy; it’s core economic policy.
Revitalising Competition and Incentivising Investment
Finally, a high-productivity economy is one where competition thrives and investment is rewarded.
We need to revitalise competition policy in this country.
It’s been nearly 30 years since the landmark National Competition Policy reforms of the 1990s, which turbocharged productivity by opening up closed shops and monopolies.
The modern Labor party would run a mile from the approach taken by their predecessors – who understood that the principles of competition policy link directly with improved living standards for all Australians.
It’s time to take a fresh look across our economy.
From energy to banking to transport we must ensure our markets are truly competitive and consumers have choice.
For example, opening retail electricity and gas markets to competition allowed households and small businesses in most states to shop around for the best deal — putting downward pressure on prices and improving service.
The Coalition will task the Productivity Commission and ACCC with identifying areas where competition is insufficient and recommending changes to unleash competitive forces.
Whether that’s cracking down on anti-competitive conduct, removing barriers to entry for new players, or reforming oligopolistic market structures.
These are just initial steps in our policy development.
We will continue to develop policies throughout the term as we consult with experts and the community.
We intend to go to the next election with a comprehensive, costed plan to get Australia out of this productivity rut and into a new era of shared prosperity.
What I’ve outlined today are the priorities, especially in taxation, deregulation and unleashing the forces of enterprise, which will guide our first actions.
They are priorities backed by credible analysis from the Productivity Commission’s findings to the business communities recommendations and, importantly, they are politically realistic.
These are ideas that a reform-oriented government can implement now, without needing decades of debate.
They don’t pit Australians against each other; rather, they offer win-win outcomes.
A stronger economy that works better for businesses and workers – especially and for Australia’s new forgotten generation.
A Call to Action: Securing the Next Generation’s Future
As I conclude, let me speak directly to the urgency of this mission.
Every delay in reform means lost opportunities, forgone jobs and wages, and a heavier debt burden for our children.
The government talks about productivity but fails to act.
I refuse to accept that Australia’s best days are behind us.
Australia is the best country in the world. But we can never take that for granted.
At the next election, Australians will face a choice: a weaker nation under Labor, or a stronger future built on hard work, fairness and lower taxes under the Coalition.
Our vision is of a confident, competitive Australia where productivity growth delivers rising incomes, families can afford homes, and future generations inherit opportunity not debt.
With the right leadership, we can write a new rule book that advances prosperity for all.
Productivity reform is not abstract.
It is about building a stronger, more prosperous nation and creating a better life for every Australian. For all of us.
The task is clear, and the time is now.
