The Hon. Matt Canavan, Queensland Senator; Gerard Holland, Page Research Centre CEO, Joint Media Release, 19 August 2025

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan and Page Research Centre CEO Gerard Holland have announced today a REAL productivity summit to take place in Canberra alongside the Labor Government’s fake productivity summit. The two leaders have called out Labor’s fake productivity summit for not dealing with the real issues, like energy prices and their flow on effect to the mining and manufacturing industries.

“If the Government were serious about tackling productivity, it would focus on the sectors of the economy where labour productivity has gone backwards. Mining and energy are the two sectors in which labour productivity has fallen, yet the Government has not invited the Minerals Council of Australia to its talkfest, and it has put up the white flag on energy prices,” Senator Canavan said.

“The Government does not even promise that energy prices will fall in the future. It just continues headlong into further failure by doubling down on the net zero plan that has led to ever-increasing energy prices for Australian families.

The REAL productivity summit will focus on the real issues covering resources, energy and the laws that place an undue burden on Australian businesses.

“Australia cannot be productive while paying some of the highest energy prices in the world. If businesses can’t keep the lights on, they can’t create jobs or growth. A bureaucratic maze of inconsistent, expensive and time-consuming regulations, combined with high taxes, is making Australian industry less competitive, less innovative and less productive,” said Mr Holland.

The REAL productivity summit will involve experienced economists, businesspeople and industry leaders and will be a no-holds barred discussion about why Australia’s productivity has fallen by so much.

“The only rule for the roundtable is that, under no circumstances, will people be allowed to speak in bureaucratese. Labour productivity has fallen by 5.7 per cent under this Labor Government. The only way we will fix this plainly shocking economic performance is to speak plainly. If we do not fix our energy catastrophe soon, we could lose tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs,” said Senator Canavan.

The discussions will involve some of the leaders who helped pull Australia out of the last economic malaise during the 1980s.

“Australia has overcome greater challenges before. With clear eyes and common purpose, we can prioritise affordable energy, cut the red, green and black tape strangling industry, and restore the conditions for growth so that the next generation can inherit a more prosperous nation,” said Mr Holland.

The roundtable will take place at Parliament House in Canberra from 9.50am on Wednesday 20 August.