Andrew Forrest is a mining entrepreneur and is currently Australia’s richest man. At the Australia 2020 Summit, he shared his thoughts on tax, Indigenous affairs and Australia’s potential for change.
Submitted
28/04/2008
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28/04/2008
What do you think will come out of the summit?
About a dozen great ideas that the mainstream political or bureaucratic communities may not have thought of, and that could change Australia.
What’s your big idea?
Look, I have a lot of trouble keeping them in a bottle. But I’m excited about streamlining tax; I’m excited about making infrastructure accessible to investors so that we can get around the bottle-necks which we have all around the Australian coastline.
And if I get to go where my heart is and not my brain, then I’d go to Indigenous affairs, where there’s a lot that can be done with energy and not money.
So what taxes need to go?
Oh, let’s not get into the specifics just yet.
I take it business tax is an area that needs overhauling?
Yeah, I think there’s a real argument for encouraging investors to line us up with the most competitive economies in the world, which we’re not at yet.
You have said earlier that this weekend is a symbolic gesture. Do you think it will be anything more than that?
No I think symbols are very powerful but I also believe that out of this weekend will come 10 to 12 great ideas which would not have been picked up by mainstream bureaucracy and politicians, and they could well change Australia.
