PRIME MINISTER: Well, welcome. This is my first COAG as Prime Minister and I want to thank all the Premiers and Chief Ministers the President of the Local Government Association for your encouragement and the very collaborative discussion we had last night.
We all understand that Australia’s economy is transitioning from an enormous mining construction boom. We recognise that we’ve seen a high rise in our terms of trade and as was always going to happen that has now subsided. I think we all recognise that to ensure our continued prosperity we do need to be more competitive, more productive and more innovative.
As you know, we see the future and I think you would all agree that the future lies in our greatest resource the 24 million Australians that in one way or another we all represent. The ideas boom can go on forever if we have the imagination and commitment to make it so. So the challenge for us is to ensure that we seize those opportunities and give Australian businesses the best chance. Back Australian enterprise and we need to do that together. It’s not just a job for State Governments or the Federal Government or indeed Local Government.
It’s right across the board, we work together collaboratively as Australian government representing the 24 million Australians whose future in large part depends on the decisions we all take so I know that we will have a very constructive and collaborative discussion and I look forward to working with all of you for a long time together.
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