When the pandemic and lockdowns brought Australia’s economy to a standstill two years ago, shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers hit the phones to seek real-time intelligence on what was happening on the ground at shopfronts and other businesses.
“In the absolute worst of the recession, there wasn’t a business CEO or chair of a major company that wouldn’t talk me through how they were seeing things, where the big challenges were and share data.” With the federal election less than two weeks away, Chalmers could soon become the nation’s 41st federal treasurer.He was thrust more into the public limelight in the campaign during Anthony Albanese’s COVID-19 isolation.
That the private sector will lead this recovery and is the engine room of the economy is self-evident and not contested by me ever.Chalmers says working for his fellow Queenslander Swan taught him valuable lessons.“Not everyone is always going to have the same view, and if someone doesn’t have the same view as you, it’s not a personal affront.
One Labor colleague says in recent years Chalmers appears to have reassessed class warfare and that he is conscious of the aspirations of Queenslanders and Australians. But at the age of around 16 his modern history teacher, Norbert Greulich, made a critical intervention that would change Chalmers’ life.The teacher had earlier fled war-torn East Germany and made it to Australia. Under his tutelage, Chalmers became obsessed with the big world history events, which introduced him to politics.
There is a view out there amongst the business community that perhaps the government has been too keen to fight rather than fix things. In the business community, Chalmers is personally close to Andrew Fraser, the former Queensland state treasurer and former SunSuper chairman. “There is a view out there amongst the business community that perhaps the government has been too keen to fight rather than fix things,” he says.
I think energy is going to be the big story of the next decade, and we have business’ view on it and the government doesn’t. “Whether we succeed or fail at that will be the biggest determinant of whether our economy is sufficiently modern into the ’30s.”Business Council of Australia said Labor’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030 was “economy wrecking”Now the BCA is pushing for a larger cut of 46 per cent to 50 per cent by 2030, ahead of Labor’s updated 43 per cent goal.Chalmers saw it as an opportunity and views the BCA’s change of heart as pivotal.
Has he ever worked in the private sector?
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