Industry groups and Labor’s own hand-picked Productivity Commission Chair have already shot down Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s 2024-25 budget centrepiece, Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster says.

Labor’s proposed Future Made in Australia Act claims to drive investment into new and existing manufacturing and clean-energy technology projects.

“Economists have already labelled this proposal as inflationary, exactly the opposite of what Australia needs during Labor’s cost-of-living crisis,” Dr Webster said.

“A rapid rise in industry support is not a magic bullet. Australians cannot afford more costly policy thought bubbles from this distracted Albanese Labor Government. Labor’s hunger for big government involved in more of the economy is doing nothing to ease pressures on Australian households.”

Labor-appointed Productivity Commission Chair Danielle Wood said Labor’s Future Made in Australia Plan:

“… shouldn’t pretend … that this is going to be costless. If we are supporting industries that don’t have a long-term competitive advantage, that can be an ongoing cost. It diverts resources, that’s workers and capital, away from other parts of the economy where they might generate high value uses. We risk creating a class of businesses that is reliant on government subsidies, and that can be very effective in coming back for more.”

Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Bran Black said:

“Any government intervention needs to be carefully calibrated and measured so taxpayer funding isn’t wasted, inflation isn’t fuelled further, and private funding isn’t crowded out. We will need to see the detail of how projects will be funded, planning co-ordinated and facilitated, and no further changes in areas such as workplace relations which make Australia uncompetitive.”

Minerals Council of Australia Chief Executive Tania Constable said:

“We should not forget that it is companies that create competitive industries, not government”

Australian Industry Group Chief Executive Innes Willox:

“Too often, government policies distort activity, create unintended consequences and are slow to adapt as circumstances change and flaws are exposed. Yet we are today invited to make a leap of faith that more government guidance and support is the answer to our ills. Industry will naturally view the promise of more government intervention with suspicion, if not alarm.”

Dr Webster said the above concerns should wake Labor from its political daydreams and see the Government listen to the experts on reforms that will improve productivity.

“The Prime Minister and Treasurer mouth platitudes and pie-in-the-sky ideas to make more businesses depend on Government support, unable to stand on their own feet against their global competitors. This Government has weakened the economy with radical industrial relations changes and their inflationary actions,” Dr Webster said.

“We need to get back to the fundamentals of affordable, reliable energy, flexible industrial relations that deliver higher real wages and competitive workplaces and deregulation that encourages businesses to invest, to take risks, to employ, to drive competitiveness and productivity. Those are the fundamentals that have worked historically and will work in the future.”