National Economic Review 2011: Australia's Annual Growth Summit

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GAP hosts high level conferences, seminars, briefings, online forums and business missions, both internationally and within Australia.

See below the summary of the following initiatives:
• National Economic Review 2011: Australia's Growth Summit
• National Economic Review 2010: Australia's Growth Summit

National Economic Review 2011: Australia's Growth Summit

Population logo The impact and opportunities of Australia's predicted population growth were the key themes of the 2nd Annual Growth Summit held in Sydney on 16 September as part of GAP's three-year National Economic Review series.

Population growth is not a novel issue and has been shown to advance economic growth, boost labour markets and drive human creativity, achievement and innovation. In contrast to more pessimistic predictions, the 2011 GAP Growth Summit emphasised the benefits to be gained by embracing such opportunities and outlined strategies by which the nation may stay at the forefront of global economic development.

The topics discussed at the Summit included demographics, infrastructure and trade capacity, health and education, employment, immigration and fiscal policy, cost of living, innovation and productivity.

<< Download National Economic Review 2011 Report ^NEW! [PDF 4.5MB]

The Summit was broadcast by Australia's Public Affairs Channel on 29-30 September and 3 October 2011. A number of media channels have covered the event, including editorials by Jason Clout in the Australian Financial Review and Jessica Brown in The West Australian, and an interview with keynote speaker Dr Keith Suter on 702 ABC Sydney. NSW Deputy Premier the Hon. Andrew Stoner chose the Summit to announce the State Government's plan to strengthen and grow the NSW economy. Keynote presentations and blogs by the Summit speakers and delegates are available at Open Forum.

GAP is coordinating a number of task forces utilising the "Second Track" process, online discussions through Open Forum and other research mechanisms to support the Summit's goals and maximise its long-term impact.

The National Economic Review 2011: Australia's Annual Growth Summit was sponsored by:

   • Australian Centre for Health Research
   • Australian Unity
   • HP Enterprise Services
   • NSW Government
   • The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
   • Open Forum

The National Economic Review 2011: Australia's Annual Growth Summit was held on 16 September at NSW Parliament House, Sydney. Planning is underway for next year's Summit, scheduled for 13 and 14 September 2012.

National Economic Review 2010: Australia's Growth Summit

Background •
Report of Proceedings •
In the Media •
Outcomes •
Partners & Sponsors •

Australia may have avoided many of the hardships of the last global financial crisis and subsequent economic slump that has engulfed much of the world. However, environmental issues, an ageing population and trade imbalances pose a plethora of challenges to governments, businesses and individuals, heightening the importance of improving growth and productivity through new thinking and innovative solutions.

To address these challenges, GAP is convening a series of annual growth summits over the next three years (2010-2012) to review the nation's strengths, highlight opportunities for progress and develop a plan for growth and innovation.

The 2010 Summit, the first in the series, was held at NSW Parliament House on 16 and 17 September. It brought together more than 100 delegates from government, banking and finance services, health, education, information technology & communications, social services and other sectors of the economy.

<< Download National Economic Review 2010 Report [PDF 5.5MB]

The main topic areas included:

Research & Development and Innovation
"American attitude, Australian culture: How do we change our society to embrace innovation, entrepreneurship and a more risk-taking mentality?"

Costs and Prices
"How do We Get More Bang for Our Buck? Markets, Prices, Competition and the Role of Government"

Measures of Australia's Progress and Subjective Wellbeing
"Economics & Psychology: A marriage of necessity"

Trade and Investment Policy
"The Outlook for Australian Trade in the 21^st Century"
"Old and New Sources of Growth: The Roles of Trade and Investment"

The Summit featured keynote addresses by the Hon. Wayne Swan MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, Australian Government; the Hon. Eric Roozendaal MLC, Treasurer, Minister for State & Regional Development, Minister for Ports & Waterways, Minister for the Illawarra, Special Minister of State, NSW Government; and by international guest speaker Mr Jonathan Coppel, Economic Counsellor to the Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Transcripts of keynote presentations and relevant blogs from the delegates have been published by Open Forum.

The Summit was covered by various media channels. On Friday, 17 September, the Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun, The Australian, CIO Magazine, ComputerWorld, SkyNews, the Australian Financial Review and other media reported on Treasurer Swan's keynote speech at the Summit's opening dinner. A full transcript of the speech can be reviewed at the Treasury Ministers Portal.

In an interview with The Australian, the Summit's keynote speaker Jonathan Coppel said Australia needed to address its "low productivity performance", which was well below the level of the top OECD nations, and identified the lack of spending on infrastructure as one of the reasons behind Australia's fall-off in productivity.

The National Economic Review 2010: Australia's Annual Growth Summit was sponsored by:

   • Australian Unity
   • Citrix Systems Australia & New Zealand
   • HP Enterprise Services
   • Integrated Wireless
   • Microsoft Australia & New Zealand
   • Standards Australia
   • The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
   • The Financial Services Council
   • Open Forum

The National Economic Review 2010: Australia's Annual Growth Summit was held on 16 and 17 September in Sydney. Planning for next year's Summit is underway.

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