Australian Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson is concerned about discouraging overseas investment. He feels that politicians squabbling over foreign investors will drive away essential overseas investments in the country if things are not handled with care.
The Australian Greens, the independent Senator Nick Xenophon and the National Senator Barnaby Joyce want a review of foreign investment laws. Mr Parkinson said of the many investigations that have been clamored for this week that they are handled with clear recognition of where Australia's national interest lies.
He mentioned at the growth Challenge conference on Thursday that Australia could no longer rely on China to maintain an extraordinary income surge which came in the last decade. The growth needs from China are slowly but surely slowing down.
Mr Parkinson said that while our central scenario is for the mining boom to continue, for resource prices to stay well above historical norms well into the future, and for the growth and development of Asia to continue unabated in trend terms, we expect growth in living standards to slow over time unless productivity growth improves.
He also felt that the 1990s productivity boom generated by the 80s reform agenda has disappeared and not likely to improve in the immediate term. He said that if they failed to tackle this productivity slowdown immediately there would be poor outcomes in the future.
Most Australian do not realize this as they are yet to feel the consequences of this decline. For this reason it is imperative that Australia not scare away investments from aboard. The new political policy would do well to see that they encouraged productivity based prosperity.