Article courtesy of The West Australian.
From cost of living to commodities demand and climate change, industry leaders reflect on the challenges of doing business in the roaring 2020s.
Gina Rinehart
Jo Gorton
Deloitte Australia CEO
I think productivity is the key challenge we face as a country. Deloitte Access Economics analysis shows economic output per hour worked has barely shifted over the past decade and has declined since 2020 in real terms. We need bold, productivity-enhancing reform to sustainably grow the economy and lift wages without adding to inflation. We need to unlock and ignite people’s passion for innovation to get the productivity uplift we need to take Australia forward.
Julie Delvecchio
Electric Vehicle Council CEO
Cost-of-living pressures are a challenge for many Australian families, especially in outer suburbs and regional areas where high fuel costs take a toll. As more EVs hit the market with prices starting under $30,000, we have a big opportunity to help people switch and save. EVs can save families up to $3,000 a year on fuel and maintenance costs, while creating cleaner air and quieter neighbourhoods.
Dr Brendan Nelson
Boeing Global president
Janet Menzies
Amazon Australia country manager
Appropriately, cost of living remains at the forefront of the media and political debate, and underneath those headlines are the experiences of everyday Australians who are simply finding it tough to make ends meet. We are proud to have been a positive force for Australians as they continue to face significant cost pressures. How is our strategy changing to meet today’s challenging times? It isn’t. We are still all about convenience, selection, and price. We’ll continue to deliver great value, more choice and faster delivery. Retail is detail.
Dr Doug Hilton
CSIRO CEO
As a community, we’re making enormously important decisions on everything from climate change to the loss of biodiversity to how we use AI to how we respond to pandemics. Navigating these challenges depends on public attitudes, so it’s critically important the community understands why science — built on facts, good governance, ethics and integrity — is different from religion, politics, opinion or social media. Trust in science isn’t some theoretical issue. It matters profoundly, because science provides the compass to navigate humanity’s greatest challenges.
Cecile Wake
Shell Australia chair
Access to reliable, secure and affordable energy is fundamental to productivity, growth and national prosperity. A harmonised, whole-of-government approach to energy security and the energy transition focused on delivering the lowest-cost, most reliable energy for Australia and our regional trade partners is the biggest lever that we have to lift our competitiveness.
Bill Gates
Microsoft co-founder
The age of AI is filled with opportunities and responsibilities but we must make sure it is mostly used by people with good intent. The biggest things are going to be advancing medical science, education and taking action on climate and getting that innovation to move even faster. Globally, the worst inequity is in health: five million children under five die every year. That’s down from 10 million two decades ago, but it’s still a shockingly high number. It’s hard to imagine a better use of AI than saving children. At the same time, the world must establish the rules so that any downsides of artificial intelligence are far outweighed by its benefits.
Rebecca Tomkinson
Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA CEO
There is a fundamental disconnect in planning between Australia’s business and political leaders. Election cycles motivate politicians to pursue reactive and often incohesive policy. The absence of a long-term vision means businesses are being asked to make major investment decisions in the dark. We are confronting complex challenges like the global energy transition in an information vacuum. Addressing this requires comprehensive industry policy that spans the political divide.
Jason Titman
Swyftx CEO
The upheaval engulfing global politics right now is highly unpredictable, along with the ever-increasing sovereign debt levels of many countries. Now more than ever, we are in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, changing and ambiguous) world and a news cycle that can leave businesses sitting somewhere between panic and optimism in the same 24-hour window. The key issues for businesses to address are building supply chain resilience and working out how to exist in an AI and Blockchain world.
Jakob Stausholm
Rio Tinto CEO
Commodities demand is growing and shifting to energy transition materials. Australia needs to maintain and improve its competitiveness at a pivotal time for the world due to that global energy transition. We remain positive about Australia as a place to do business, we are investing a lot and have future investment plans across the country. But Australia must decide if it wants to regain the internationally competitive position it once held for energy-intensive industries. It also needs to put productivity at the centre of workplace reforms.
