I have asked the Premiers, Chief Ministers and the Australian Local Government Association to attend a Council of Australian Governments meeting in Melbourne on 20 December 2007.
The Government has a plan to move Australia forward by boosting long-term productivity growth for the future.
The Government has a plan to tackle Australia's future challenges and I want to begin implementing that plan as soon as possible.
I want to use this COAG meeting to set a new framework for co-operative Commonwealth-State relations and take practical steps to end the blame game.
The time for buck-passing must come to an end. The time for real work to deal with real problems facing the nation must begin.
Discussions at the Melbourne COAG will include:
1. The future of Health and Hospitals in Australia, including:
* Tackling elective surgery waiting lists
* Investing in aged care, especially in transition care
* Investing in public dental programs
* Preventative healthcare
2. Education, Skills and Training - The Productivity Agenda, including:
* Lifting the Year 12 retention target
* Investing in Early Childhood
* Promoting the study of Asian languages in our schools
* Establishing Trades Training Centres in Secondary Schools
* Implementing the Government's National Secondary School Computer Fund
* Developing a National Curriculum
3. Climate Change and Water, including:
* Establishing a National Emissions Trading system
* Establishing a single national renewable energy target
4. Infrastructure:
* Establishment of Infrastructure Australia to audit Australia's infrastructure bottlenecks.
5. Business deregulation, including:
* Cutting red tape for Australian business
6. Housing, including:
* More streamlined development approval processes and measures to reduce infrastructure charges and developer costs
* Addressing rental affordability
* Homelessness
7. Other National Reform Initiatives
The purpose of the 20 December meeting is to agree on a comprehensive program of work for COAG for 2008 with agreed objectives and reporting timelines.
In a departure from past meetings, I have invited Treasurers to also attend this meeting in Melbourne.
I do not under-estimate the degree of difficulty involved in this ambitious agenda.
But the time has come now to roll our sleeves up and get to work.
Brisbane
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