Australia faces a formidable challenge in restarting our economy following the shutdowns and disruption imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Already, some areas of the economy are coming back to life as our governments gradually start to relax public health restrictions. States and territories are already taking positive steps down the road to the ‘new normal’.
However Treasury modelling shows that lifting health restrictions only removes half of the economic pain being experienced by business and the community. The other half represents an economic contraction that is now already baked in and should be considered a separate but related challenge to the virus control measures.
Returning to a strong economic won’t just happen because cafes have re-opened and kids are back at school. Getting the economy going again will take stimulus, real reform and actions that boost confidence.
Last week, the Prime Minister cautioned that the capacity of governments to support households and business through the pandemic crisis was finite. It will be up to business to lead the way in rebooting the economy in coming months.
With the right policy settings and incentives, the property industry can be front and centre in this national economic recovery project and help set Australia up for growth and prosperity for years into the future.
Our success in the post-COVID world will need fresh ideas and an appetite to tackle some of the big issues sitting in the too hard basket which have held back productivity and investment. Business as usual simply won’t be enough to get our economy going again.
Our Seven Point Plan for Economic Recovery – which is being released today – contains a range of proposals designed to get the economy moving, create jobs and attract investment.
From market incentives for new housing construction through to broad-based tax reform, accelerating private and public investments, and restoring our migration program, it is a comprehensive agenda for action across all levels of government.
We’ve shown during the pandemic by keeping construction sites open that our industry can keep the economy working. With the right policy settings, we can help lead Australia back to a brighter economic future.