Focus On Productivity & Collaboration

You would have to be living under a mushroom to have not heard of the Federal Government’s Productivity Forum which took place in Canberra recently.

This reform agenda – which the Treasurer Jim Chalmers has made clear aims to set Australia up through the next three budgets – highlights the need for Australia to address the drop sin productivity. The agenda has also raised awareness of the fact that productivity is not about working harder and longer but working smarter; that it is about ensuring that the nation and industry is equipped to efficiently deploy new technologies and systems to get more out of the same resources. And that unless we can address the productivity challenges, Australia risks a decline in living standards.

So, while it might be a dry topic, think about this discussion as a way of preserving our Australian way of life and living standards. We were therefore very pleased to be among about 20 key stakeholders invited to join a roundtable convened by the Minister for Northern Australia, Madeleine King, when we were in Canberra last month. This meeting informed the Minister about some of the key productivity challenges and opportunities facing the region ahead of the Treasurer’s national roundtable.
We welcomed the expert input of our members from across the Advance Cairns network with specific insight from members from our construction & engineering and consulting, local government, and general aviation sectors as well as Gulf Savannah Development and local governments across the Gulf. A big thank you to those members who contributed to the development of our formal contribution to this national-leading reform.

All this again underpins the value of working together – in regions where we have fewer resources, the ability to work together to elevate our key priorities is not just necessary, it gets outcomes.

Working together was the clear message we took from our visit to Canberra where we held key meetings early in this second term of the Federal Albanese Government. It was also terrific to watch the new Federal Member for Leichhardt Matt Smith deliver his maiden address to parliament (bearing the historic title of Parliament’s tallest MP). And it was great to hear him acknowledge the support of the former Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch which can only be good for the region as the baton is handed over.

As we move into this period of electoral stability our focus at Advance Cairns is to continue relationship building across all sides of politics to ensure that the Queensland and Australian Governments deliver on the promises they made to constituents,The need to keep the focus on our new MPs during this term is critical to delivering on key priorities for Far North Queensland including funding for our health systems and roads, for investments in housing and to deliver on promises to deliver a diversified and growing economy for Cairns through major projects such as the 5000-tonne shiplift at the Cairns Marine Precinct. Our work has only just begun!
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