Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Assistant Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
For those of you who do not know me, I am the Member for Perth. My community is fantastic, vibrant, beautiful and unique.
It is also 3,088 kilometres away.
To put that into perspective, the distance between Moscow and Dublin is 2,795 kilometres. Australia is huge. And that presents a unique set of challenges.
Hundreds of years ago one of the major challenges was communication. Settlers of the early colony of New South Wales had an almost eight month wait on their letters to reach their English home.
Trans-Continental Telegraph
Australia's first telegraph line began operating in 1854. Within four years, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide were all connected. But the crossing of the continent continued to elude settler explorers.
In 1861, the Burke and Wills expedition met its infamous and tragic end - crossing the continent had never seemed more dangerous or more out of reach. However, a year later John McDouall Stuart succeeded where so many others failed - crossing from Adelaide to the Top End.
His secret? Stuart was following the traditional trade route used by Indigenous Australians for millennia. With each step he was walking in the footsteps of Australia's first business people. And in 1862, he reached our northernmost reaches. If people could cross the continent, so could a telegraph line.
Creating connection together
The economic benefits of being the colony to establish an overland line were clear - the opportunity to become the gateway for the world to communicate with Australia. In 1870, South Australia built its first 300 kilometres of telegraph line, connecting Adelaide with Port Augusta.
They only had 2,878 kilometres left to go!
Things really got moving, however, when the government of the colony reached out to work in partnership with the private sector. They contacted the British Australian Telegraph Company, which was in the process of laying an underwater cable from Java to Darwin. They agreed to pay for the construction the remaining stretch of telegraph line from Port Augusta to Darwin. Chasing a dream of being the gateway between Australia and the world.
In July 1870, the line was divided into three sections, two of which would be built by private contractors, and one by the South Australian Government. The final sections were joined together in 1872. 36,000 telegraph poles and 11 repeater stations spaced 200 kilometres apart now stretched the length of the dusty continent. Joining the Southern Ocean with the Arafura Sea for the first time.
Within months, the undersea cabling was connected to Java - and Australia was connected to the world. The seven months it took to communicate with England was now a matter of hours. 4,000 telegrams were transmitted in just the first year of operation.
The dream was reality.
Australia's isolation was surmountable.
We can overcome the impossible when we combine our strengths. Without following First Nations trade routes, John McDouall Stuart does not make it to the Northern coastline. Without the British Australian Telegraph Company, the South Australian Government does not finish the Overland Telegraph Line.
Without engaging the private sector where we need to, the Albanese Government does not deliver on our promises to the Australian people. And that is a non-negotiable for us.
An economy that works for Australians
The Albanese Government's ambition is to build an economy where wages, growth and productivity rise together. Meeting this ambition requires a unified national effort: government, employers, unions and civil society working together. Finding ways to boost productivity, economic resilience, and budget sustainability.
Our economic plan is designed to help Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn. At the same time, we have overseen the creation of more than 1.1 million jobs and stronger employment growth than any major advanced economy.
We know there is more to do because Australians are still under pressure and the global economy is uncertain and unpredictable. To defend against global volatility and lift wages and living standards over the long term, we are working together with the business sector. Working to build more productive economy, a stronger budget, and more resilience. That is why we convened our Economic Reform Roundtable last week.
Economic Reform Roundtable
The Roundtable brought together leaders from the business community, union movement and civil society. Coming together to work on making the Australian economy stronger, fairer, more productive, and more resilient into the future. I thank Chief Executive of Ai Group, Innes Willox, for his participation in this Roundtable. These discussions were informed by nearly 900 submissions from experts, industry leaders and individuals. And more than 40 forums that Ministers held around the country.
They were also informed by the Productivity Commission's work through its five productivity inquiries. All of which have received many submissions from industry and other stakeholders.
The Roundtable focused on three themes:
- boosting productivity
- strengthening resilience, and
- improving budget sustainability
It was a valuable opportunity to help deliver and fulfil the commitments we have made to the Australian people, and expand our vision for the future.
Secure Jobs, Better Pay Review
As Assistant Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, I cannot talk about our shared economic future without talking about our workplace reforms. As at 31 March 2025, the Fair Work Commission approved 9,829 agreements since the Albanese Government implemented the Secure Jobs, Better Pay reforms.
According to the latest data, 2.67 million Australians are covered by current enterprise agreements. The highest recorded since enterprise bargaining commenced in 1991. The March quarter is the sixth consecutive quarter that wages growth in approved enterprise agreements has outpaced inflation.
The final report of the independent review of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay reforms has found the reforms are already delivering outcomes for Australian workers and employers. Showing that overall, the reforms are achieving their intent and there are minimal unintended consequences.
The Review Panel found that signs are that real wages have started to improve and collective bargaining is increasing.
Because, as the Prime Minister says:
'We want an economy that works for people, not the other way around.'
Australian Public Service
Partnering with the business sector is a key part of the work the Australian Public Service is doing to uplift capability in the APS. This work supports Pillar 2 of the APS Reform agenda - putting people and business at the centre of policy and service delivery. The APS and Australian business are partnering on ways to build confidence in how the service learns from, engages and collaborates with Australian business. Including through shared problem solving, to get the policy settings right and to advance Australia's interests together.
Good engagement with business helps the APS to understand needs, and build trust results in practical, evidence-informed policy advice to government. It also supports effective delivery of programs and support that businesses need and want, informed by what works.
To support this aim the APS has worked with businesses to build relationships for better outcomes. These initiatives encourage public servants to build networks with private sector stakeholders and across related government areas. Overall leading to more integrated and fit-for-purpose solutions.
Business Immersions Program
An example of this partnership in action is the Business Immersions Program run by the APS. This program provides public servants with opportunities to spend time at a leading Australian business to learn about Australia's existing capabilities. Hearing firsthand about the conditions needed to empower and grow Australian enterprise.
An initial program hosted by Cochlear in May 2025 brought together different areas of government with a shared stakeholder. Participants learned about Cochlear's approach to business strategy, planning, and R&D, toured manufacturing and research facilities.
A big emphasis was the need for meaningful engagement and collaboration between government and business. In order to reduce regulatory barriers, share problem solving and advance Australia's policy environment together.
Speakers reinforced the need for open and ongoing communication where public servants ask questions to understand issues at all stages of the policy cycle. Not just through a discussion paper at the end of a process. Supported by built in feedback loops and better ways to share information across government.
Participants reported improved knowledge of the relationship between strategy, policy, R&D and overall business and societal outcomes. Access to senior leadership was highly valued, and participants also reported an enhanced appreciation of the role government policy plays and its impact on business strategy.
Because the best policy emerges as a dialogue between government and business. That is how we connect ideas with outcomes.
Artificial intelligence
Now, it would not be a speech in the year 2025 if I did not mention artificial intelligence at least once.
This is for good reason. AI is our new frontier, our version of venturing into the unknown. But - like the expeditions of the 1800s - it is also a great opportunity for Australia.
Government-funded AI Adopt Centres are helping small and medium enterprises adopt AI tools.
The centres provide expert support directly to small and medium enterprises. Including free specialist training, one on one consultations, technology demonstrations, and AI safety guidance.
Four centres are assisting eligible SMEs in priority industries, ranging from medical science to manufacturing, forestry, renewable technology, and more. We want to make sure Australian workers and Australian business have the skills and safeguards to get the best out of new technology, including AI.
In such a fast moving space we must get the balance right: maximising the productivity benefits while protecting people from potential risks. Ensuring AI is a creator of good jobs, not a threat to them.
Boosting AI adoption can help Australia address skills gaps in key industries like aged care. It can lift our competitive advantages in sectors such as agriculture, mining and medical technology. The Government will continue to explore opportunities to further AI innovation, development, skills, and investment across the economy.
Net zero
The final area of collaboration I want to talk about today is the Albanese Government's commitment to achieving net zero by 2050. We have also set a target of 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, as well as achieving 82 per cent renewable electricity by 2030.
The scale of investment requires strong engagement between the public and private sectors, local communities, and international partners. This is a core pillar of the Government's Future Made in Australia agenda, including the National Reconstruction Fund. The National Reconstruction Fund is key to making the investment required to increase Australia's manufacturing capability, build a skilled workforce, and diversify the economy in line with our net zero agenda.
The National Reconstruction Fund has announced more than $630 million in investments in local manufacturing capability to date.
I have seen firsthand how governments, industry and the community can work together to support investment in regional diversification in Collie, Western Australia. With strong support from the WA Government, Collie has attracted new investment and delivered retraining programs. It has built new infrastructure to diversify its industrial base.
The local Collie community, state government and Albanese Labor Government's Net Zero Economy Authority are working together. To drive investment that leverages our competitive advantage while also supporting the transition to net zero.
In Collie, I stood on land owned by local sheep farming couple Phil and Marilyn. At the site of a battery built and operated by French company Neoen. Employing local workers from Collie and the South-West.
These partnerships have helped Collie move ahead in its transition journey. Showing what can be achieved when governments, industry and communities collaborate on a shared vision for the future.
This is the type of place-based transition the Authority is prioritising in its focus regions.
Some areas where we need to work together are:
- Unlocking more renewable energy.
- Developing green products from clean energy.
- Supporting workers in emissions-intensive industries to access new jobs, skills and other opportunities; and
- Supporting regions moving away from a reliance on coal to other opportunities that support economic and social sustainability.
The Net Zero Economy Authority is working to promote an orderly and positive economic transformation. One that benefits Australia, its regions, industries, workers, and communities. But we cannot do it without the business community.
Conclusion
The Albanese Government is ambitious for what Australians can achieve when we work together. Our greatest national achievements - at their core - have been achieved by business, government and Australians working together for a shared goal.
We have turned ideas into action, impossibilities into possibilities and problems into opportunities.
As Australians - we rise to challenges - but we rise to them together. Just ask any Australian town impacted by a natural disaster. It is in our landscape, in our history and in our enduring value of mateship. We work together when things get tricky.
Building the economy of the future is not easy. But neither was connecting Australia to the world for the first time all those years ago. Without partnering with business, who knows how South Australia would ever build more than those first 300 kilometres of telegraph line. They needed to partner with business in order to move forward.
Today's challenges are no different. Our Government is committed to working hand in hand with business to build an Australia that benefits all of us.
I thank you for coming with us on each step of this journey. I look forward to the destination. Thank you.
