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The government says the body will maintain its role as a crucial source of independent advice.
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Productivity Commission review part of revitalising economy: Treasurer
05 January 2023
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The government says a review of the Productivity Commission is part of a broader evaluation of economic institutions in an attempt to renew and revitalise the economy.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was looking at ways to strengthen the economy and a key part of that was analysing its economic institutions such as the RBA and the Productivity Commission.
“There is a real appetite in the government to renew and revitalise our economic institutions and processes in ways that strengthen our economy and strengthen our democracy,” Dr Chalmers told ABC Radio.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work on this, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
“We’ve got a Reserve Bank review, a women’s economic statement, a wellbeing agenda, we’re taking a different approach to the intergenerational report, all of that is about this sense of institutional renewal in one way or another, so I do think we should be working out ways to renew and revitalise the Productivity Commission as a powerful and prominent source of independent advice to government.”
Dr Chalmers said he had been seeking advice from economists and experts regarding the Productivity Commission and the goal was for it to remain independent.
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“That’ll be my intention,” he said. “I think its independence is a source of strength, I think its focus on productivity is a source of strength, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t make it better necessarily.
“I think we should be engaging right now in this big process of institutional renewal and democratic renewal and a big part of that is making sure all of the various agencies and processes that feed into our economic policy decisions are the absolute best they can be.”
“That’s why we look around the world for lessons, and have conversations with experts and economists here at home so if there are ways we can make the PC even better then I think I have a responsibility to do that and I’m going to grab it.”
The term of Productivity Commission head Michael Brennan finishes at the end of the year but the Treasurer said the review would focus on the body rather than any individual.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Michael and I think I’ve made that pretty clear in various ways and the work of the commissioners as well, this is not about any one person, it's not about a set of commissioners necessarily, it's about the institution itself,” he said.
“The cabinet would ordinarily consider around the middle of the year what we would like to do with that position, but this isn’t about Michael, this isn’t about any one person or another, it's about making sure that we renew and revitalise our institutions and the Productivity Commission is really important one, and that’s why we’ll be considering how we can make it better.”
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