Program
Thursday, 1 November 2012
| 8.45–9.05am | Session 1: Opening |
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| Speaker | Professor Glyn Davis AC, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Melbourne |
| 9.05–10.40am | Session 2: Two Speeds, Two Worlds: The Domestic and Global Economic Challenges for Australia After 21 years of uninterrupted growth, has our economy finally run out of luck? Setting the scene for the conference with a look at the opportunities and risks for Australia as Asia slows, Europe slips back into recession and the US recovery is not yet assured |
| Chair | Professor Judith Sloan, Professorial Fellow, Melbourne Institute, and Contributing Editor, The Australian |
| Speakers | Professor Ian Harper, Partner, Deloitte Access Economics – View presentation Mr Gary Banks AO, Chairman, Productivity Commission – View presentation Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark, Director and Ronald Henderson Professor, Melbourne Institute – View presentation |
| 10.40–11.00am | Morning Tea |
| 11.00–12.30pm | Session 3: International Financial Developments: Implications for the Australian Economy What is happening, exactly, in the international economy? Can Europe get its fiscal house in order? Is there another global financial crisis we should worry about? |
| Chair | Dr John Handley, Head of Department, Department of Finance, The University of Melbourne |
| Speakers | Professor Fariborz Moshirian, Professor of Global Finance and Director of Institute of Global Finance, Australian School of Business, The University of New South Wales - View presentation Mr Adam Boyton, Chief Economist, Deutsche Bank (Australia) Mr Alberto Calderon, Group Executive and Chief Executive Aluminium, Nickel and Corporate Development, and Member of the Group Management Committee, BHP Billiton – View presentation |
| 12.40–2.00pm | Lunch – Listen to the recording |
| Chair | Mr Gary Banks AO, Chairman, Productivity Commission |
| Speaker | Mr Ted Evans AC, Former Treasury Secretary and Westpac Chairman |
| 2.10–3.40pm | Session 4: Concurrent |
| Session 4A: Asia Just when we were getting used to the idea of the Asian century, the short-term economic outlook for our neighbourhood is suddenly fraught. Is this a blip, or the warning of more volatility in the years to come? | |
| Chair | Mr Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large, The Australian |
| Speakers | Dr Michael Wesley, Strategic Analyst and Commentator Professor Ross Garnaut AO, Vice-Chancellor's Fellow and Professorial Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Dr David Gruen, Executive Director, Macroeconomics Group, Department of the Treasury – View presentation |
| Session 4B: Health Will health reform work? This year has seen major changes to hospital funding and performance management. How will these reforms affect service delivery and deal with the costs? Is there more that needs to be done? | |
| Chair | Professor James Angus AO, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne |
| Speakers | Professor Stephen Leeder AO, Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine, School of Public Health and Director, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, The University of Sydney – View presentation Professor Anthony Scott, Professorial Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute – View presentation Dr Tony Sherbon, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Independent Hospital Pricing Authority – View presentation |
| Session 4C: School Education David Gonski had reported, Julia Gillard has replied and the Coalition is up in arms. What is the way forward for school reform? | |
| Chair | Adjunct Professor Alison McClelland, Commissioner, Productivity Commission |
| Speakers | Ms Lisa Paul AO PSM, Secretary, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Mr Richard Bolt, Victorian Secretary, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development – View presentation Associate Professor Chris Ryan, Director, Economics of Education and Child Development, Melbourne Institute – View presentation |
| 4.00–5.00pm | Session 5: Federal Financial Relations All levels of government confront the paradox of a revenue squeeze and increasing demands from voters for better services. Is it time to rethink the federation to break the reform impasse between governments and voters? What do we do about state tax reform? Should we recast the spending responsibilities between the federal and state tiers? |
| Chair | Dr Lynne Williams, Independent Economics Consultant |
| Speakers | Mr Nigel Ray, Executive Director, Fiscal Group, Department of the Treasury – View presentation Professor Miranda Stewart, Director, Tax Studies, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne – View presentation Professor John Freebairn, Ritchie Chair in Economics, Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne – View presentation |
| 5.30pm | Book Launch – 50 Years of the Melbourne Institute Dean's Boardroom, 12th Floor, Faculty of Business and Economics Building |
| 7.00 for 7.30pm | Conference Dinner Melbourne Aquarium – Listen to the recording |
| Chair | Mr Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large, The Australian |
| Speaker | The Hon Wayne Swan MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer – Read the Speech |
Friday, 2 November 2012
| 8.40–10.10am | Session 6: Making Our Cities More Productive We tell ourselves we are one of the most urbanised nations in the world. But cities are routinely overlooked in the reform debate. How can we make them better serve our nation? Can government and the private sector share the infrastructure load and make our housing stock more responsive to our needs? |
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| Chair | Mr George Megalogenis, Author and Journalist, The Australian |
| Speakers | The Hon Greg Hunt MP, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage – View presentation Professor Henry Ergas, Senior Economic Adviser, Deloitte Australia and Professor of Infrastructure Economics, SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong – View presentation Ms Jane-Frances Kelly, Program Director – Cities, Grattan Institute – View presentation |
| 10.10–10.40am | Morning Tea |
| 10.40am–12.10pm | Session 7: Concurrent |
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Session 7A: The demographic dilemma
Our population is not only ageing, but shifting in its composition. What are the implications for the long-term reform debates of our changing national mix? Can, or should we alter our demographic destiny? | |
| Chair | Mr Michael Woods, Deputy Chairman, Productivity Commission |
| Speakers | The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband Professor Graeme Hugo AO, Director, Australian Population and Migration Research Centre, The University of Adelaide – View presentation Professor Judith Sloan, Professorial Fellow, Melbourne Institute, and Contributing Editor, The Australian – View presentation |
| Session 7B: Restoring the Balance The era of big surplus budgets ended with the global financial crisis in 2008–2009. With both sides committed to paying down public debt, how quickly can the government move from borrower to saver? How do we best restore the balance? | |
| Chair | Professor Paul Kofman, Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne |
| Speakers | Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Finance and Deregulation – Read the Speech The Hon Nick Greiner AC, Chairman, Infrastructure NSW Professor John Daley, Chief Executive Officer, Grattan Institute – View presentation |
| Session 7C: Trade and Industry Policy How does Australia remain open in its dealings with the region and the rest of the world when our major trading partners are turning inward, and against one another? Is there anything we can do to reduce the risk of a trade war between China and the United States? | |
| Chair | Professor Peter Lloyd, Emeritus Professor, Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne |
| Speakers | The Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP, Minister for Trade Mr Tony Shepherd AO, President, Business Council of Australia Ms Patricia Scott, Commissioner, Productivity Commission – View presentation |
| 12.20–2.00pm | Lunch – Listen to the recording |
Professor Glyn Davis AC, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Melbourne The Hon Tony Abbott MHR, Leader of the Opposition | |
| 2.10–3.50pm | Session 8: Concurrent |
| Session 8A: Fiscal Future Shock There are a number of big spending proposals on the table to carry us into the next decade. Yet both sides are reluctant to talk about how to fund them. Meanwhile, the revenue base continues to erode because of changes in consumption patterns and the restructure of the economy. What are the reforms we need to talk about now, before the next bust leaves a deficit too big to close? | |
| Chair | Mr Tony Cole, Business Leader for Investment Consulting in Asia Pacific, Investment Consulting, Mercer (Australia) Pty Ltd |
| Speakers | The Hon Andrew Robb AO, Shadow Minister for Finance and Debt Reduction Mr Innes Willox, Chief Executive, Australian Industry Group – View presentation Mr Chris Richardson, Director, Deloitte Access Economics – View presentation |
| Session 8B: Homelessness We were the last rich nation standing during what the rest of the world called the Great Recession. But our macro success masks deep-seated social problems. Has there been any progress in reducing homelessness? What more can be done to assist our most vulnerable citizens? | |
| Chair | Mr Robert Fitzgerald AM, Commissioner, Productivity Commission |
| Speakers | The Hon Mary Wooldridge MP, Minister for Mental Health, Women's Affairs and Community Services Dr Rosanna Scutella, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute – View presentation Mr Tony Nicholson, Executive Director, Brotherhood of St Laurence |
| Session 8C: Productivity and Innovation Australia enjoyed a productivity boom in the 1990s, but the statistics over the past decade do not flatter us. What are the causes of our declining productivity? How do we improve our performance and are there any new reforms we should consider to create an innovation culture in the 21st century? | |
| Chair | Mr Gary Banks AO, Chairman, Productivity Commission |
| Speakers | The Hon John Brumby MP, Director, Huawei Technologies (Australia) Pty Ltd – View presentation Dr John Edwards, Board Member, Reserve Bank of Australia and Visiting Fellow, Lowy Institute for International Policy – View presentation Professor Beth Webster, Professorial Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute, and Director, Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia – View presentation |
| 3.40–4.00pm | Afternoon Tea |
| Session 9: Wrap-up | |
| Chair | Professor Judith Sloan, Professorial Fellow, Melbourne Institute, and Contributing Editor, The Australian |
| Panellists | Mr Paul Fletcher MP, Federal Member for Bradfield Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Federal Member for Fraser |
| 5.15pm | Close |