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The Australian Investment Council Welcomes The Australian Government's 2024-25 Budget
The Australian Investment Council welcomes the Australian Government's 2024-25 Budget, particularly its strong commitment to increased investment through its Future Made in Australia plan.
“This is an investment focused budget that will see the Government work alongside investors through its $22.7 billion ‘Future Made in Australia’ package,” Australian Investment Council CEO, Navleen Prasad, said tonight.
This year’s Budget provides a balanced approach to several domestic and international challenges, with a particularly encouraging outlook for Australia’s investment community, with Treasurer Chalmers noting in his Budget Speech that “business investment is now expected to record its longest annual expansion since the mining boom”. The Australian Investment Council believes that Australia’s private capital sector is poised to meet the Government’s vision for increased investment in Australia’s industries of tomorrow.
This Budget is the Government’s strongest signal to date that it recognises the scale of Australia’s investment challenge, with the Treasurer noting that the world’s 2050 net zero commitment “will demand the biggest transformation in the global economy since the industrial revolution.” Encouragingly, this recognition is paired with a commitment to working alongside investors to build a prosperous Australian future by “changing the way we attract and deploy investment”.
Like last year, this year’s Budget provides a surplus of $9.3 billion – the first consecutive surplus in a Federal Budget in two decades.
The Budget continues this administration’s focus on generating cost-of-living relief for individuals – but signals a new commitment to working with industry through its ‘Future Made in Australia’ aspirations. This $22.7 billion package is particularly relevant to Australia’s investment community, and our private capital industry. It contains six key elements:
- Attracting Investment in Key Industries
- Investing in Innovation, Science and Digital Capabilities
- Making Australia a Renewable Energy Superpower
- Promoting Sustainable Finance Markets
- Strengthening Approvals Processes
- Workforce and Trade Partnerships for Renewable Energy Superpower Industries.
Of particular note, the Council has long advocated for reforms to strengthen the efficiency of Australia’s foreign investment framework. Encouragingly, this advocacy is reflected in the Government’s commitment to provide $15.7 million over four years for Treasury to strengthen and streamline Australia’s foreign investment framework, through more effective monitoring, enforcement of conditions and timely review of foreign investment applications. This includes refunding 75 per cent of fees for foreign investment applications that do not proceed because the applicant was unsuccessful in a competitive bid process. The Council will continue to engage with the Government on process improvements of the foreign investment framework.
Similarly, the Government’s commitment to creating a ‘single front door’ within Treasury to improve the attraction and facilitation of major investment proposals from the investment community is aligned with the Council’s advocacy on this issue.
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