Over the past decade, Australia has endured its worst stagnation in living standards since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and has lost its way in terms of economic policies that can restore prosperity, says Ross Garnaut in conversation with Michael Lester.
Professor Ross Garnaut AC, Australia’s pre-eminent economic policy adviser and analyst over many decades, currently at Melbourne University and author of his latest book Let’s Tax Carbon… and Other Ideas for a Better Australia (La Trobe University Press, 2024), argues that Australia’s path back to prosperity lies in transforming its economy to become a global renewable energy superpower.
This would involve exporting high-value-added decarbonised mineral products, rather than bulk, low-value-added commodities like iron ore, bauxite, alumina, and fossil fuels such as oil and liquefied natural gas.
Fiscal and monetary policies need to be reformed to provide incentives for renewable energy investors. A key part of this reform is the introduction of a ‘carbon solutions levy’ on the one hundred or so major carbon-emitting producers.
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Michael Lester is a public policy economist with a career in Commonwealth and State agencies, World Bank and OECD. His interests include innovation, environment, and governance. He presents programs on community radio.
Ross Gregory Garnaut AC is a vice-chancellor's fellow and professorial fellow of economics at the University of Melbourne.
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