BCA president Geoff Culbert says ‘binary politics has made net-zero transition so much harder’
The Australian Financial Review Business Summit’s first day is nearing its close, following speeches and panels from government leaders, business and investors from the around the world.
Here are some of the best soundbites from the day:
Jim Chalmers, Treasurer of Australia: We can do better than the [growth] projections in the Intergenerational Report, but I want people to see it as a warning sign.
Wei Li, BlackRock global chief investment strategists: The journey of bringing inflation down, of rate cuts starting and of avoiding a recession – it’s a feel-good journey. But the destination of higher rates, higher inflation and lower long-term growth is something that we really need to think about.
Geoff Culbert, Business Council of Australia president: Our three-year term limits are too short, which means we’re permanently in election mode and governments are in a constant fight for survival.
Peter Costello, former federal treasurer: The market now believes that interest rates have peaked, and they are going to fall, and have priced in those interest rate reductions … There is a fair bet to make that the market may have run beyond itself.
Xiao Qian, China’s ambassador to Australia: We want to improve people’s living standards and give more opportunity for our overall economic and social development… We cannot afford to have growth that’s lower than 5 per cent.
Matt Comyn, CBA chief executive: One of the things I find extraordinary is the lack of scrutiny across some of the large tech companies that have large businesses in Australia.
Geraldine Slattery, BHP Australian president: There is a lot to be optimistic about, but it won’t land in our lap.
Meg O’Neill, Woodside chief executive: If the world is going to get serious about tackling climate change, we need China, South-East Asia and all the other nations that are currently quite dependent on coal to make a switch.
