The Business Council welcomes the passage overnight of the Future Made in Australia Production Tax Credits legislation.
The BCA argues, and will continue to argue, that Australia must urgently boost its investment fundamentals if we are to be competitive in the increasingly contested race for jobs and opportunities creating global capital.
This means undertaking much needed reform to reduce red tape, restore a sense of balance to our broken industrial relations system, establish more competitive tax settings and make our approvals processes more efficient and certain.
However, we also recognise the reality that other jurisdictions all around the world are directly supporting their local industries to ensure they are not only competitive today but, importantly, lay the foundations for new markets and job opportunities tomorrow. These jurisdictions include the EU, Canada, the United States, South Korea and Japan.
For this reason, the BCA welcomes the passage of the Government’s production tax credits for critical minerals and hydrogen as an important support for encouraging investment in growing industries.
Investments like these are important because they help deliver certainty for industry looking to invest here and enable Australia to seize the opportunities driven by the energy transition.
But we also need to make sure we get the implementation right.
The final design and administration of the production tax credits, including the Community Benefit Principles, must not be so restrictive or onerous as to undermine their success, including through the addition of union veto powers over potential projects.
The BCA will continue to work with the Government to ensure these risks are minimised.
