Treasurer downplays leaked department document listing possible outcomes of productivity round table
The pre-written list of recommended outcomes, prepared for cabinet and seen by the ABC, includes advice to pause changes to the National Construction Code, which is similar to a Coalition proposal that was panned by Labor at the federal election.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has seized on the document as evidence that the much-touted talks are a "stitch-up", despite the government's repeated pledge to not rule anything in or out before business leaders, unions and economists gather at Parliament House on Wednesday.
"When I read information that says it's all been choreographed, it's all been lined up, even to the level of announcements being made from outcomes, I wonder whether people who are attending this round table are indeed wasting their time," Ms Ley told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday.
The treasurer, however, was adamant that the forum was a "genuine attempt" to tackle big issues in the economy and that the government did not "pre-empt any of the reform directions" that would come out of it.
"I don't think it should come as a big surprise to anyone that the Treasury has been briefing us on those ideas, helping us to prepare for those proposals that people have said that they will put to us," he said.
The Treasury advice, first reported by the ABC on Thursday, also included measures to speed up housing approvals, such as a national artificial intelligence plan to cut environmental red tape, and reforms to clear a backlog of 30,000 housing approvals currently being assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act.
Mr Chalmers would not be drawn on on whether the government would accept the recommendation to pause changes to the National Construction Code, telling reporters "there are a number of issues that have been proposed to us".
He also stressed that the document was "not a government announcement" and that the recommendations within it were not government policy.
"I have been consulting for weeks now in probably one of the most intensive periods of consultation that people have seen for a long time and ideas like that have been put to us, not just those ideas that have been reported today but probably hundreds of different ideas have been put to us," he said.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil confirmed the code would be up for discussion at the talks, but echoed the treasurer in stating she did not want to pre-empt any outcomes.
Industry has approached next week's summit cautiously, after some business leaders left the government's 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit feeling the government had entered with a pre-determined outcome.
Mr Chalmers has repeatedly said nothing would be off the table at the talks, only specifying that any proposal should be budget positive or at least budget neutral.
He has previously flagged that tax reform would be a priority, but that was thrown into question after the prime minister last week suggested the government was "only" looking at tax policies it took to the election.
Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also batted away accusations the meeting was a waste of time, saying "ideas are popping up all the time".
"Those ideas are getting assessed as they're being made. Government will make decisions, to be very clear, governments make decisions," he said.
"What next week is, though, is an opportunity for people to advance their ideas, to advance policies, and that's a really constructive thing."
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