Chalmers,in an exclusive interview with this masthead,said if Australia made the correct decisions in the next 10 years around energy,industry and the use of data and technology,it could set up the country for continuing prosperity that would spread across all parts of the community.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the advent of mass clean energy,the development of critical minerals and emerging industries plus major advances in data and technology make the next decade vital to Australia and the world.Jason South
But making the wrong calls would leave the country with the same problems that held it back through the 2010s.
Chalmers this week,in which he argued for a new “values-based approach” to capitalism.
He revealed in the essay that this year the government would create “new sustainable finance architecture” that would include descriptions of the climate impact of different types of investments. The treasurer also signalled the government would expand the role of investment in social purposes,such as aged care or disability,arguing the market does not exist to support ongoing investor activity.
Chalmers told this masthead that after a wasted decade impacted by the lingering effects of the global financial crisis and then the response to the COVID-19 pandemic,future generations could look back on the 2020s as “a defining decade”.
He said the advent of mass clean energy,the development of critical minerals and emerging industries plus major advances in data and technology made the next decade vital to Australia and the world.
“There are at least three big shifts under way,” he said. “We can get them really right or we can get them really wrong,and which way we go will determine a lot of our economic future.”
This week,Chalmers addressed a meeting of the Australian arm of the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment initiative,discussing opportunities to sink money into the renewable energy sector.
The government is also using investment vehicles to financially support parts of the economy. They include its $20 billion Rewiring the Nation fund,$15 billion National Reconstruction Fund and the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund.
In a review of the Australian economy this week,the International Monetary Fund cautioned that such funds needed to be introduced gradually while saying a “proliferation of such vehicles should be avoided”.
Chalmers,who on Sunday will deliver an address in Canberra about the economic challenges facing the country over the coming decade,said the government was focused on dealing with the nation’s cost-of-living pressures.
The Reserve Bank is next week expected to lift official interest rates to a fresh 10-year high of 3.35 per cent. Data this week showed inflation for working families reaching its.
Chalmers said while the government was focused on dealing with inflation,it also had to consider the longer-term economic future of the country.
He said the failure of governments over the past decade to deal with emerging issues,particularly around private investment in renewable energy,had put Australia in a poor economic position.
“We can’t afford to waste another decade,” he said.
“These three big changes are under way. Getting on the right side of them is important for Australia’s economic and social future,” he said.
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