Outline

• Anthony Albanese will outline on Thursday a strongly interventionist role for government to make Australia competitive in a world requiring us to “break with old orthodoxies”.
• In a major pre-budget address that puts industry policy at the heart of this agenda, the Prime Minister will declare his government “will not be an observer or a spectator – we will be a participant, a partner, an investor and enabler”.
• To underpin the case for the government’s direction, Albanese highlights comparable countries that are investing in their industrial base, manufacturing capability and economic sovereignty.

‘Not old-fashioned protectionism’

• Australia continued to champion global markets, but “equally, we must recognise that the partners we seek are moving to the beat of a new economic reality”.
• “All these countries are investing in their industrial base, their manufacturing capability and their economic sovereignty.
• And – critically – none of this is merely being left to market forces or trusted to the invisible hand.
• "The heavy lifting of economic transition and industrial transformation is not being done by individuals, companies or communities on their own.
• "It is being facilitated, enabled and empowered by national Governments from every point on the political spectrum.
• Ramping up a rhetoric of urgency, Albanese says: “We need to be clear-eyed about the economic realities of this decade.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.