ESOC 2008
New Agenda for Prosperity
Thursday, 27 March 2008
8.45–9.30am | Session 1: Official Opening |
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Chair | Professor Stephen Sedgwick, Director, Melbourne Institute |
Speaker | Professor Glyn Davis AC, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Melbourne |
Keynote Address | |
Chair | Professor Glyn Davis AC, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Melbourne |
Speaker | The Hon Kevin Rudd MP, Prime Minister – Read the speech online |
9.30–10.45am | Session 2: The Challenges of Growth Will the China boom continue? As the Reserve Bank lifts interest rates rise and Canberra hands out tax cuts, can Australia’s long growth cycle continue in the face of inflationary pressures at home and a possible US credit-crunch recession abroad? What has to be done to reinvigorate productivity growth? |
Chair | Professor Stephen Sedgwick, Director, Melbourne Institute |
Speakers | Mr Philip Glyde, Executive Director, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics – View presentation Mr Chris Richardson, Director, Access Economics – View presentation Mr Gary Banks AO, Chairman, Productivity Commission – View presentation | Download the paper |
10.45–11.15am | Morning Tea |
11.15am–12.35pm | Session 3: Is Australia Advancing Fairly? Australia has never been richer. But has the boom bypassed substantial areas of society? How should policy better promote opportunity on the disadvantaged edges of widespread prosperity? |
Chair | Ms Melinda Cilento, Deputy Chief Executive, Business Council of Australia |
Speakers | Mr Tony Nicholson, Executive Director, Brotherhood of St Laurence – View presentation | Download the paper Professor Peter Saunders, Social Research Director, Social Foundations, The Centre for Independent Studies – View presentation Professor Mark Wooden, Deputy Director and Director, HILDA Survey, Melbourne Institute – View presentation Hon Dr Geoff Gallop, Professor and Director, Graduate School of Government, The University of Sydney – Download the paper |
12.45–2.15pm | Lunch |
Chair | Mr Michael Stutchbury, Deputy to the Editor-in-Chief (Business), The Australian |
Speaker | The Hon Wayne Swan MP, Treasurer – Read the speech online |
2.30–4.00pm | Session 4: Concurrent |
Session 4A: Is there a Housing Crisis? Is the rising cost of home ownership a real crisis – or are Australians paying the price of borrowing too heavily? Is the housing problem concentrated among lower-income first home owners or renters? How should policy respond? | |
Chair | Professor Julian Disney, Chair, National Affordable Housing Summit |
Speakers | Associate Professor Judith Yates, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, The University of Sydney – View presentation Mr Anthony Richards, Head, Economic Analysis Department, Reserve Bank of Australia – View presentation Mr Bill Evans, General Manager, Economics, Westpac Banking Corporation – View presentation Dr Frank Gelber, Chief Economist and Director, Economics and Property, BIS Shrapnel – View presentation |
Session 4B: From Welfare to Work Unemployment has fallen to generational lows just as labour force participation has risen to record highs. What more can be done to shrink the pools of the long-term unemployed, disability pensioners and jobless families? | |
Chair | Professor Guay Lim, Professorial Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute |
Speakers | Mr Michael Horn, Senior Manager, Research and Policy, Brotherhood of St Laurence – View presentation | Download the paper Professor Robert Gregory AO, Professor of Economics, Economics Program, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University – View presentation Dr Hielke Buddelmeyer, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute – View presentation Mr Andrew Johnson, Executive Director, Australian Council of Social Services – View presentation |
Session 4C: Education Revolution The Rudd Government has proclaimed its commitment to an education revolution. What kind of revolution is required to make education more relevant and effective from pre-schools and schools to skills training and universities? | |
Chair | Professor Stephen Sedgwick, Director, Melbourne Institute |
Speakers | Professor Collette Tayler, Chair of Early Childhood Education and Care, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne – View presentation | Download the paper Professor Geoff Masters, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Council for Educational Research – View presentation The Hon Tony Smith MP, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training – Read the speech Professor Richard Larkins AO, Vice-Chancellor and President, Monash University – View presentation Presentation Mr Eric Sidoti, Director, The Whitlam Institute |
4.00–4.30pm | Afternoon Tea |
4.30–6.00pm | Session 5: After the Apology The Rudd Government says it is now focused on practical measures to combat Indigenous disadvantage. What does this mean for the Howard Government’s intervention in the Northern Territory? What are the results so far? Can the model be applied elsewhere? |
Chair | The Hon Fred Chaney AO, Chair, Desert Knowledge Australia |
Speakers | The Hon Jenny Macklin MP, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs – Read the speech Professor Marcia Langton AM, Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies, The University of Melbourne – View presentation Professor Ian Anderson, Director, Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit and the Centre for Health and Society, The University of Melbourne – View presentation Mr Galarrwuy Yunupingu AM, Senior Gumatj Elder |
7.00 for 7.30pm | Gala Dinner Ballroom, Park Hyatt Melbourne, 1 Parliament Place off Parliament Square, Melbourne |
Chair | Mr Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large, The Australian |
Speaker | Professor Ross Garnaut AO, Garnaut Climate Change Review and Professor of Economics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University – Read the speech |
Friday, 28 March 2008
8.30–10.00am | Session 6: The Infrastructure Catch-Up After the fiscal consolidation of the 1990s, infrastructure investment is undergoing a catch-up. But are the regulation, pricing and governance of basic infrastructure still hindering the economy’s supply lines? |
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Chair | Mr George Megalogenis, The Australian |
Speakers | The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government – Read the speech Dr Michael Keating, Chairman, Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal – View presentation | Download the paper Mr Rod Sims, Director, Port Jackson Partners Limited – Download the paper Mr Garry Bowditch, Executive Director, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia – View presentation |
10.00–10.30am | Morning Tea |
10.30am–12.00pm | Session 7: Concurrent |
Session 7A: Making Hospitals Work Short term injections of cash may relieve some of the symptoms of the ailing health system. But can changed funding arrangements end the buck passing and improve the health of Australians? | |
Chair | Professor James Angus, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne |
Speakers | The Hon Nicola Roxon MP, Minister for Health and Ageing Ms Mary Ann O’Loughlin, Director, The Allen Consulting Group – View presentation Dr Stephen Duckett, Executive Director, Reform and Development Division, Queensland Health – View presentation Professor Anthony Scott, Professorial Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute – View presentation |
Session 7B: The Broadband Impasse What is needed to turn the political football of broadband into the investment required to produce substantially faster internet speeds? Should the dominant telco be regulated more or less? | |
Chair | Ms Jennifer Hewett, National Affairs Correspondent, The Australian |
Speakers | Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Mr Graeme Samuel AO, Chairman, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Mr Ravi Bhatia, Chief Executive Officer, Primus Telecom – View presentation Mr Donald McGauchie AO, Chairman, Telstra Corporation Ltd – View presentation |
Session 7C: Tax Reform Both the Hawke–Keating and Howard Governments delivered major tax reform. As the boom delivers big increases in revenue, what should be the Rudd Government’s tax reform agenda? Is fresh thinking required? | |
Chair | Mr Alan Wood, Economics Editor, The Australian |
Speakers | The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, Shadow Treasurer – Read the speech Professor John Freebairn, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne – View presentation | Download the paper Professor Paul Kerin, Professorial Fellow, Melbourne Business School – View presentation | Download the paper Professor Neil Warren, Head of School, Australian School of Taxation (Atax), The University of New South Wales – View presentation | Download the paper Mr Tim Cox, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers |
Session 7D: David Finch Lecture – Understanding Global Imbalances Large global imbalances are a natural consequence of globalisation of financial markets and significant demographic change (and high oil prices). We should not be surprised by or anxious about them, and should be wary of proposals for policy actions to eliminate them. | |
Chair | Professor Margaret Abernethy, Dean, Faculty of Economics and Commerce, The University of Melbourne |
Introduction | Mr Ian Renard, Chancellor, The University of Melbourne |
Speaker | Professor Richard N. Cooper, Mauritis C. Boas Professor of International Economics, Harvard University Professor Cooper is Vice-Chairman of the Global Development Network and a member of the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Executive Panel of the US Chief of Naval Operations, and the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity. He has served on several occasions in the US Government and was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boxton from 1990–92. As a Marshall Scholar, he studied at the London School of Economics, and earned his PhD at Harvard University. |
12.00–1.30pm | Lunch Grand Buffet Hall, Union Building |
Chair | Professor Peter McPhee, Provost, The University of Melbourne |
Speaker | The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, Leader of the Opposition – Read the speech |
1.45–3.15pm | Session 8: Concurrent |
Session 8A: Innovation and Research The Rudd government has firmly put reform of Australia’s innovation and research systems on its agenda. What does the government intend? What is needed? | |
Chair | Dr Mike Woods, Commissioner, Productivity Commission |
Speakers | Senator the Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Professor Alan Robson AM, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Western Australia Mr Hutch Ranck, Managing Director, DuPont Australia and New Zealand – View presentation Dr Rowan Gilmore, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Institute of Commercialisation – View presentation Professor Peter Høj, Vice-Chancellor and President, The University of South Australia – View presentation Mr Charles Laycock, Chief Executive Officer, Iatia Vision Sciences – View presentation |
Session 8B: Boosting Labour Supply Has the economy reached full employment, or can policies on immigration, childcare, mature workers and training boost labour supply much more? | |
Chair | Professor Judith Sloan, Commissioner, Australian Fair Pay Commission |
Speakers | Mrs Heather Ridout, Chief Executive, Australian Industry Group – View presentation Mr Jeff Lawrence, Secretary, Australian Council of Trade Unions Associate Professor Guyonne Kalb, Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute – View presentation Dr Andrew Leigh, Fellow, Economics Program, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University – View presentation |
Session 8C: Dealing with the Regulatory Burden The new government has promised to stem the explosion of business regulation. Can this really be done? Are there big gains in just making regulation better? | |
Dr Gary Banks AO, Chairman, Productivity Commission | |
The Hon Lindsay Tanner MP, Minister for Finance and Deregulation – Read the speech Mr Henry Ergas, Regional Head Asia Pacific Region, CRA International – View presentation Dr Stephen King, Commissioner, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Dr Nicholas Gruen, Chief Executive Officer, Lateral Economics – View presentation | |
3.15–3.30pm | Afternoon Tea |
3.30–5.00pm | Session 9: The Environmental Constraint |
Chair | Mr Matthew Warren, Environmental Writer, The Australian |
Speakers | Mr Peter Cosier, Director, Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists – View presentation Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems – View presentation Mr Alan Johnston, Assistant Commissioner, Environmental and Resource Economics, Productivity Commission – View presentation Mr David Pearce, Director and Principal Policy Analyst, The Centre for International Economics – View presentation |
Discussants | Mr Mitchell Hooke, Chief Executive, Minerals Council of Australia Professor Mike Young, Director, Research Chair, Water Economics and Management, The University of Adelaide – Download the paper |
5.00–5.15pm | Closing Session |
Speaker | Mr Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large, The Australian |