It’s good to be back on deck again after a period of family leave. I want to thank Warren Truss for his work as Acting Prime Minister over the last week or so and obviously he’s now got a few more days as Acting Prime Minister while I’m out of the country.
First point I want to make is that obviously we’ve had another taste of the perils of an Australian summer with the fires in several States and property losses in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and now it seems New South Wales.
On behalf of the Government, I express my sympathy to the communities that have suffered and the communities that are under threat and obviously the Australian Disaster Recover Payments will be made available to those that have been seriously impacted by these bushfires.
Tonight, I am off to the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland.
This is an annual gathering of policymakers and business leaders from around the world and it’s my intention to showcase Australia, to argue for the policies of the new Government and do my best to ensure that Australia is seen as an attractive place to invest and do business.
It’s also my opportunity at Davos to explain to business leaders and Heads of Government our agenda for the G20 year – the year of Australia’s G20 Presidency.
The G20 is probably the world’s premier economic grouping and it’s important that this year the G20 is more than just a talkfest.
It’s important that what we see from the G20 this year is not just sound economic theory, but practical action to build stronger national, and a stronger global economy.
That’s what the citizens to whom we owe our duty expect. They expect concrete, practical results and that’s exactly what Australia wants to deliver as the G20 Presidency.
On trade, on tax, on infrastructure, investment and financing, on banking and on employment; we want to see specific actions that promote freer trade, that try to ensure we have less leaky national taxation systems, that explore innovative ways of financing investment in infrastructure, that try to ensure that our banking systems right around the world are proof against any future economic shocks and to ensure that the benefits of development are evenly shared through private sector led employment growth.
So that’s my agenda for the next few days and I’m confident that Australia will give a good account of itself.
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