Treasurer Jim Chalmers doesn’t want to preempt the outcomes of next week’s Economic Reform Roundtable in Canberra. But he is keen to counter critics, including those who suggest his ambitions have caused tension with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“I see this as three days to help inform the next three budgets,” Chalmers told Capital Brief in a telephone interview organised as part of a weekend media blitz ahead of his much-anticipated productivity discussion.
One of his first unprompted points was to “preempt the critics that say that this is not worth the effort”.
“We’ve been working extremely hard — the boardroom blitz, all the engagement with the participants and others,” he said. “I feel like the effort has already been worth it,” he said.