I’m sorry I can’t be with you but it is good to have the chance to wish you well for these discussions.
This week, I am visiting Indigenous communities in the Torres Strait and on the tip of Cape York.
It’s the first visit by a Prime Minister to this region in 18 years.
I’m here to listen – because not all wisdom resides in Canberra – and listening to those with practical experience does make for better public policy.
Australia has just completed 24 years of economic growth and every Australian has benefitted from this economic growth through more jobs, higher wages and better services.
Today’s prosperity is the result of yesterday’s reforms and the foundation of our future wellbeing is improving our productivity and competitiveness today.
A lot has happened in the past two years.
We’ve undertaken budget repair with over $50 billion in savings over the forward estimates.
Every year the budget deficit will come down by about a half a percentage point of GDP.
We’ve cut $2 billion a year in red tape costs because for too long governments have let the regulatory burden grow.
We’re on track to see a million new jobs created in five years, with 335,000 more jobs in our economy since the election.
Three Free Trade Agreements are significantly reducing tariffs and opening up new markets for our exporters and our service providers.
Regrettably, the passage of the China FTA through the Parliament is not assured.
My Government will fight for this because this agreement is essential to Australia’s long-term economic future.
Likewise, we’ll fight to ensure that new developments that have passed strict environmental standards are allowed to proceed without vigilantism in the courts.
Only a few months ago, the Government announced major reforms to Australia’s pension system. These reforms will see 170,000 pensioners with modest assets receive pension increases in the order of $30 a fortnight, while at the same time, saving the Budget $2.4 billion.
But there is more work to be done.
This Government wants lower, simpler, fairer taxes, but that means getting spending down further.
Tax reform is an important national debate and I hope that this Summit will play a part in it.
We’re also working closely with the States and Territories towards reform of our federation.
As you know, prosperity and opportunity go hand in hand, but to ensure tomorrow’s economic growth, we must continue to reform our economy today.
I wish you well with your deliberations.