“Teal” member for Wentworth Allegra Spender has called for a revamp of policies affecting business growth in the country including tax and industrial relations reform.
“Starting with business, we should aim to be the best place in the world to start and grow a business,” she added, highlighting Australia’s advantages, including higher education, a cohesive society, and abundant resources,” she told the National Press Club on Oct. 23.
“Productivity is our ability to do progressively more with less, and it’s responsible for 80 percent of real wage growth. Yet, Australia has experienced the worst decade for productivity in 60 years, with capital investment lagging behind necessary levels.”
However, Spender noted that bureaucratic red tape was a problem.
“Talk to any business owner, and they will tell you that the one thing the government can do for them is to cut red tape.”
Employers Need Better Support From IR System
Addressing the outdated industrial relations system, Spender remarked, “Our industrial relations system may be well-intentioned, but in practice, it is an archaic shamble.”
She called for a careful calibration of wage delivery and productivity growth, urging the government to modernise or replace the Fair Work Act.
“Small businesses need more relief from an IR system designed for big business,” she argued, citing a business owner who had to pay off an employee to avoid an unfair dismissal case despite attempting to act in the best interest of his workers.
A Need to Help Grow Our Tech Start-Ups
Spender turned her attention to innovation, emphasising that dynamic firms drive productivity.“Capital investment in Australian startups is just one-third of that in the U.S. and half of the UK,” she noted, advocating for a strengthening of early-stage capital markets.
“Government needs to be a better customer of our innovators.”
She recounted the success of an AI firm in her electorate that serves numerous UK hospitals yet struggles to penetrate the Australian market.
Improving the Tax System
On taxation, Spender critiqued the current budgetary situation, asserting that while Labor takes credit for surpluses, the structural deficit remains unaddressed.“No one, neither party, has a plan to deal with this,” she stated, underscoring the need for improved productivity in the public sector.
Reflecting on her experience at a public teaching hospital, she highlighted the importance of utilising resources effectively: “We can achieve better quality and outcomes without necessarily throwing more money at the problem.”
As she shifted focus to intergenerational equity, Spender warned that younger working Australians bear an increasing tax burden.
“We need to deal with this,” she asserted, calling for a reduction in reliance on income taxes and a review of tax concessions.
She highlighted that while we should be debating how we spend tax, we also need to have a better debate on how we raise it.
A Pledge to Collaborate
In conclusion, Spender offered a cooperative parliamentary environment where good ideas can thrive regardless of their source.“Independents aren’t elected to be timid or to preserve the status quo,” she remarked. “I will judge every issue on its merits, on the evidence, and on feedback from the community.”
As she faced potential challenges ahead, Spender urged her colleagues to rise to the occasion, stating, “Our legacy as a generation of representatives will be judged on our ability to deal with the three biggest economic issues facing our country: growth, intergenerational equity, and the energy transition.”
Spender has a background in economics—having earned a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Cambridge and a Master’s from the University of London, coupled with experience as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company.
