Cynics are describing the jobs summit as a talkfest before it even starts. But the common ground on migration and skills has already been made clear.
In the next few days you’ll come across the phrase “finding common ground” in the lead-up to, at and following the Jobs and Skills Summit. It’s shorthand for let’s not waste our time highlighting differences and instead direct our energies to areas of potential agreement.
The quest for “common ground” was a defining feature of the National Reform Summit of 2015, supported by The Financial Review, The Australian and KPMG.
It was encouraging that so much common ground was found at that summit: the need to lift productivity growth and female workforce participation, getting the federal budget into sustainable shape to deliver essential services and income support for the vulnerable, tax reform and action on climate change.
Many organisations represented at the National Reform Summit will be at the Jobs and Skills Summit.
But this time the deliberations are likely to be more heavily focused on outcomes, together with a way forward for those matters that are not yet ready for agreement and on which more policy work needs to be done.
Disagreement will persist over some policy matters. If the Albanese government decides to proceed in a particular direction, summit participants will be consulted but a seat at the summit does not confer to the occupant a power of veto.
Despite leaders of the major political parties attending the National Reform Summit of 2015, political grandstanding did not occur.
Credit should be given to Nationals leader David Littleproud and Greens leader Adam Bandt for accepting the Albanese government’s invitation to attend the Jobs and Skills Summit. No doubt they will make political points, but on the summit floor neither is likely to play a spoiling role that runs against the vibe of the thing.
Ahead of the summit, Treasury has released an issues paper https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-08/2022-302672-ip_0.pdf and ministers have convened their own portfolio summits or at least gatherings. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is coordinating the summit which he will lead jointly with prime minister Albanese.
The Jobs and Skills Summit marks a return to a consensus style of government that characterised the Hawke-Keating era.
It is spurring a new cooperative approach.
On immigration, an amount of common ground already appears to have been found, with business and unions supporting an increased intake but with pathways to permanent residency in the case of low-skilled temporary migrants.
The increased intake would be complemented by a stronger commitment by governments and business to upskilling the existing workforce. On Sunday, the ACTU, Ai Group, ACCI and the BCA released a statement on common interests on skills and training ahead of the summit.
Minister for skills and training, Brendan O’Connor is already working with the states and territories and stakeholders on a new skills agreement after negotiations had stalled under the previous government.
As prime minister Albanese told the National Press Club on Monday, the summit will be the culmination of more than 100 pre-summit consultations that ministers and government members have conducted around the country.
Last Friday, he advised the Bush Summit at Griffith that he is working well with state and territory leaders of both political persuasions on the policy challenges facing Australia.
At the closure of proceedings on Friday, critics and cynics will want to give the Jobs and Skills Summit a rating out of 10, some already having denigrated it as a “talkfest” before it starts. Presumably they prefer authoritarian government policy making.
In anticipation of this criticism, Albanese acknowledged at the National Press Club that there is a school of political thought that views co-operation as capitulation, consensus as weakness – adding Australia has lost almost a decade to the conflict approach.
The Economic Summit of 1983 paved the way for an era of cooperation that ushered in Australia’s open, competitive economy.
Almost four decades later, this week’s Jobs and Skills Summit can create the conditions for a new era of cooperation to meet the challenges confronting a very different Australian nation and world.
On the worthiness of that endeavour we surely have found a hectare or two of common ground.
Craig Emerson is managing director of Emerson Economics. He is director of the APEC Study Centre at RMIT, a visiting fellow at the ANU and adjunct professor at Victoria University’s College of Business. He is advising the BCA on the Jobs and Skills Summit.