Australia may look at an overhaul of its tax system in a plan to stimulate green manufacturing industries, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
“We are prepared to consider the tax system as one of a whole range of levers that may be useful as we pursue a ‘Future Made in Australia’ and make ourselves that indispensable part of the global net zero economy,” he told ABC’s TV program Insiders on Sunday.
The “tax system will play a part, investment will play a part” to incentivize private investment in Australia, he said.
Australia Plans IRA-Style Act to Drive Green Manufacturing Tilt
The policy will be a pillar of next month’s budget, as well as a major feature of a second-term agenda for Albanese’s government, ahead of an election due by mid-2025.
The program is designed to move Australia up the green supply chain to capitalize further on its vast renewable-energy resources.
The government also wants to “streamline foreign investment that is in our national economic and security interests,” Chalmers said.
Changes to the Foreign Investment Review Board process will likely be announced before the May budget, he added.
The move marks a reversal of decades of Australian government policy of withdrawing from efforts to shape the private sector, with the scrapping of tariffs and subsidies and signing of trade agreements that were part of a global push for countries to focus on what they did best.
