Labor needs to “turn the ship around” through its upcoming economic roundtable where the Albanese government’s goals to boost productivity and investment in Australia will take centre stage.

Australia’s ailing productivity will be the subject of the roundtable led by Treasurer Jim Chalmers next month where leaders across business, politics and unions will discuss the nation’s poor growth.

AI Group chief executive Innes Willox is one of the attendees and urged the Albanese government, which has returned to parliament with a massive majority, to develop a clear picture of how to drive the nation’s economy forward at the roundtable.

“This is an opportunity for the government to … get clear understandings around the big challenges that we face around productivity and investment and all the things that go into that,” Mr Willox told Sky News’ Business Now.

“This is sort of like a legacy moment, a watershed moment. Not only for the government but also for the country because we have one chance here to turn the ship around and start to get things heading in the right direction.”

Mr Willox was hopeful of genuine change from the Albanese government as he said there had been an “epiphany” from some Labor members about the nation’s economic future.

He said it came from a novel by two US journalists titled “Abundance” that had become popular in Canberra.

The shift, Mr Willox said, was a “recognition” that “governments have indulged in process over outcomes, dollars over delivery and complexity over certainty”.

“We need to turn all of that around so that we get government focused on the things that matter,” Mr Willox said.

“Government in many ways, whether business likes it or not, is a partner of business, but it’s a partner that has to act in the interests of business as well.

“If they don’t, we’re just going to continue to see a decline in living standards.”

Economic and productivity reform was a lower priority during the Albanese government’s first term, despite slow growth and the country sitting in a per capita recession.

Labor struggled with sky-high post-pandemic inflation during its first term – which ate into household budgets.

Inflation rose more than 17 per cent over about three and a half years while wages fell behind, prompting Labor to introduce an array of cost of living assistance measures such as energy bill relief.

Labor will look towards fostering long term economic prosperity at the productivity roundtable from August 19 to 21.

Here, the government said it will strive to “enhance economic resilience and strengthen budget sustainability”.