"We look forward to working with the new ministry in what is a challenging environment for the economy and employers," said Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group.
"Australia will need ambitious policies to make sure we are a productive and competitive economy where industry can thrive and create jobs for Australians and meet the many economic challenges we face.
"We look forward to continuing to work with the new Industry Minister Tim Ayres. We commend Ed Husic for his commitment to Australian industry over the past three years.
"We also welcome the appointment of Amanda Rishworth as the new minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. She moves into the portfolio at a time of great challenge for employers, their workforce and the broader economy. Building workplace productivity to provide for sustainable wage increases must be a real focus of the new government.
"This is the toughest time to be in business, with the economy growing at its slowest pace since we were last in recession in the early 1990s.
"We are seeing declining business investment, our inefficient tax system is crying out for reform, and our workforce needs to be upskilled and made more flexible to achieve our future ambitions.
"Industry is at the centre of meeting our national priorities of housing, decarbonisation and digitalisation, so we must ensure we create the right environment for it to thrive.
"That includes reliable and affordable energy, a globally competitive tax system, workplace relations laws that incentivise jobs, reducing regulation that is suppressing investment and incentives that future proof our labour market.
"It will become harder and harder to meet these challenges in an increasingly volatile world but industry stands ready to work with the government to ensure the prosperity of all Australians," Mr Willox said.
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