Productivity reform is high on the agenda – but this time, it must be different, writes Asialink Business CEO Leigh Howard.

The upcoming Economic Reform Roundtable in Canberra is a rare opportunity to shift the conversation beyond the usual domestic fixes and confront a deeper truth: Australia doesn’t just have a reform gap – it has a perspective gap.

Our global standing is slipping. We’ve fallen from 13th to 18th in the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings, with business efficiency ranking 37th and real GDP per capita at 60th.

Yet the national debate remains stuck on familiar ground: tax policy, skills shortages, regulatory bottlenecks, digital infrastructure and criticism from unions over poor management.

These matter, but they no longer cut it. What’s missing is serious consideration of the international forces shaping our economy and how we stack up against global competitors.

You can’t boost productivity in a trading nation without considering the opportunities and pressures that extend beyond our borders. Nearly half of Australia’s GDP is linked to trade, and one in four Australian jobs relies on it.

Australia is a globally........

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