Post-budget review | ANU-CPD POLICY DIALOGUE | May 2018

You can find an audio recording of the opening remarks of our speakers here [insert link].

On 10 May 2018, CPD and ANU invited leaders from government, business, civil society, academia and the media to reflect on the mid-term implications of the federal budget and to discuss how Australia’s fiscal priorities and processes stack up against the rest of the world.

Our Policy Dialogue was hosted by former Foreign Minister, the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC and moderated by Non-Executive Director and CPD’s Board Member Sam Mostyn. It featured:

Greg Smith (Chairperson at Commonwealth Grants Commission, member of the Henry Tax Review, and former CPD Treasurer)
Miranda Stewart (Professor, University of Melbourne Law School and former Director of ANU Tax and Transfer Policy Institute)
Peter Whiteford (Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU and CPD Fellow)

The key points at heart of our Dialogue were:

International economic drivers of budget forecasts;
Changes on the tax and revenue side, including anticipated changes to personal income tax rates;
Major changes in large social security programs and likely distributional impacts; and
Worrying global risks mentioned but glossed over in the budget papers.

The interactive discussion commenced with opening remarks by our three speakers. Greg Smith started off providing his observations of the strategy behind the federal budget and outlining the major economic drivers of budget forecast. Miranda Stewart gave a perspective on the tax to GDP ratio and budget rules, the income tax reforms, and their combined effect on future tax reform. Peter Whiteford, Australia’s foremost expert on social security and taxes-and-transfers policy, took a longer view on where this might head, not least the so-called “hard cap” on tax/GDP.

The opening remarks were followed by a wide-ranging discussion with a diverse and expert audience. Participants included: Conny Lenneberg (CEO, Brotherhood of St Laurence), Daniel Gradwell (Senior Economist, ANZ), Emma Dawson (CEO, Per Capita), Gareth Evans AC QC (Chancellor, ANU and former Foreign Minister), Greg Smith (Chairperson, Commonwealth Grants Commission), Janine Dixon (Economist, Centre for Policy Studies), Kelly O’Shanassy (CEO, Australian Conservation Foundation), Lynne Haultain (Executive Director, Victoria Law Foundation), Megan Flynn (Group Manager Environment and Carbon Strategy, Qantas), Mike Fitzpatrick (Former Chairperson AFL Commission), Miranda Stewart (Professor, University of Melbourne Law School), Misha Ketchell (Editor, The Conversation), Paul Orton (Global Head – Project & Export Finance, International & Institutional Banking, ANZ), Peter Binks (CEO, Business/Higher Education Round Table), Peter Whiteford (Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU), Rachel Ball (Head of Public Policy and Advocacy, Oxfam Australia), Sam Hurley (Policy Director, Centre for Policy Development), Sam Mostyn (Non-Executive Director and CPD board member), Shelley Mallett (General Manager, Research and Policy, Brotherhood of St Laurence), Terry Moran AC (Chair, CPD and former Head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet), Travers McLeod (CEO, Centre for Policy Development).

Other key points of the discussion included:

How our budget is coping with the new economy, apart from the measures to tackle the black economy;
Outcomes that go beyond tax calculations (considering social, human and natural capital); and
Rethinking governance to respond to Australia’s biggest policy challenges.

CPD would like to thank Gareth Evans and the team at ANU House for hosting the event, and participants who contributed to an engaging and expert start to the ANU-CPD Policy Dialogue Series.

 

 

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