CEDA State of the Nation – day two 

If you were one of the more 4500 people who tuned in for this year’s State of the Nation Forum, our first digital SoN forum, I hope you enjoyed day two today.
 
Despite not being at Parliament House, the event has been a great success. We had tremendous online engagement through Q&A and participation in our polls and brought more people than ever into State of the Nation, furthering the most important policy conversations for our nation at this critical time.
 
For those that couldn’t join us or those that want to reflect on the many important issues discussed, here is a quick run-down on day two. 
 
We kicked off with CEDA’s Chief Economist, Jarrod Ball; Austrade Chief Executive Officer, Dr Stephanie Fahey; and Australasian Supply Chain Institute (ASCI) President, Alexandra Riha, discussing the impact that the COVID-19 crisis has had on global supply chains and the path forward for Australian trade.
 
The discussion centred on the pressures from the almost complete cancellation of air freight – specifically passenger planes – and the immediate impact on exporters of perishable goods as well as service exporters, namely international tourism and international education. The discussion also focused on how Australia can further develop and add value in areas of competitive advantage such as education, technology and resources. You can read more here. You can also access CEDA’s series on supply chains released in May here.
 
Next we heard from Federal Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, the Hon. Christian Porter; Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary, Sally McManus; and Programmed Group MD and Group CEO, Glenn Thompson, on Australia’s evolving labour market. The discussion centred on the need for governments and employers to work together; the need to be dynamic and nimble; and the stabilising effects of major projects. An issue that was flagged in this conversation, but which was raised throughout the forum was whether the emphasis on creating ‘blue-collar’ jobs through infrastructure plans for example, neglected the collapse in employment for younger people and women – the so-called pink recession. You can read more here.
 
I then spoke to Australia Post Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Christine Holgate; NBN Co, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Will Irving; and AGL Managing Director and CEO, Brett Redman, on the importance of critical services in times of crisis. We heard the importance of calm leadership, how operating in a crisis keeps you relevant, the importance of looking after your staff, and the importance of communication. There were also great reflections on decision making in a crisis (and what to keep doing on that front), rebuilding pride and trust in essential services and how to connect to the community. The challenges these businesses have faced is staggering and we heard some great insights and stats that captured this well. You can read more here.
 
Our final session was on supporting vulnerable and at-risk communities. Indigenous Business Australia CEO, Rajiv Viswanathan; Australian Council of Social Services CEO, Cassandra Goldie; 2019 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations, Kareem El-Ansary; and CEDA Board of Directors member, Ming Long AM, discussed the impacts of the crisis on different groups, the response from government, and how the corporate and community sectors can work with governments at all levels to build resilient communities. Key themes to emerge were the importance of the people most at risk of having their voice heard and being at the top of the debate and the importance of partnering with Indigenous communities to build a genuine relationship rather than a transaction. The conversation also touched on the job-rich nature of the care economy, and how this sector should be viewed as an economic opportunity not a liability. You can read more here. 
 
In conclusion, I’d like to call out again and thank, KPMG, NBN Co and Stellar who were this year’s State of the Nation conference sponsors. You can catch up on all the State of the Nation activity here, including KPMG’s excellent live scribe summaries for each session (which I personally thought were great). 

Australia’s competitiveness performance 

Australia has retained its position of 18 in the rankings, which are part of the Switzerland based IMD’s 2020 World Competitiveness Yearbook. The yearbook compares and ranks 63 countries based on statistical indicators and an executive opinion survey. CEDA is the Australian partner for the yearbook.
 
In the history of the yearbook, there has never been a year with such major upheaval impacting so many countries and I have no doubt COVID-19 will impact results in the yearbook for some years to come.
 
While Australia has managed the pandemic extremely well compared to other countries, economic weaknesses that were emerging in our economy pre-COVID have contributed to us remaining at 18 in the rankings.
 
The yearbook results show that if we are to come back better post-COVID, we are going to need to focus on improvements in key areas including skills, digital transformation, tax and energy infrastructure.
 
The positive from the last few months is that we have shown that we can be adaptive and nimble in responding to changing economic circumstance. This is the foundation on which we should build reforms in these critical areas.
 
You can access CEDA’s media release on the IMD Competitiveness results here and a summary of the Australian results here.
 
CEDA is also hosting a livestream on Thursday from 4pm to 5pm AEST to discuss the results. The event will include insights from Swiss-based Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre, on Australia’s results, how they fit into the global landscape and how we are faring compared to our Asia Pacific neighbours. Some of you may have seen Arturo at our Sydney EPO earlier this year (gosh that seems a long time ago now) in which case you will now doubt be keen to hear from him again. You can register here.
 
While it is only Tuesday, it has already been a busy week. I hope you can join us for Thursday’s livestream.

Melinda Cilento