Next week’s Federal Budget will be a moment of truth for Australia’s economic recovery.
Our industry has played the leading role in our COVID-recovery, but the Budget will tell us if this resurgence is set to continue or if underlying factors will constrain our long-term growth.
We know that our recovery is expected to have led to a dramatic increase in government revenues. We also know that the government is planning on boosting childcare subsidies to encourage greater workforce participation.
What we don’t yet know is what Treasury is forecasting for population growth and net overseas migration over the forward estimates and what the government plans to do to bridge the growth gap created by the COVID-19 disruption.
The Property Council has been leading the debate on the need to pivot towards a growth agenda as short term stimulus measures scale down and the vaccination program gathers pace.
We have called for measures in the Budget which would supercharge our current border processing and quarantining arrangements, in a COVID-safe way, to steadily increase international arrivals.
We’ve also made important recommendations for harnessing capital flows, investing in our future, boosting international business and working towards a climate resilient future.
The last 12 months have seen a remarkable story of recovery but, without a restoration of our usual economic drivers, challenges will remain for our economy.
On the morning after the Budget please join us for our virtual Federal Budget Insights briefing. This online event will hear expert analysis of the forecasts and announcements and unpack what it all means for our industry over the next 12 months.