State and federal ministers have endorsed popular economist Mariana Mazzucato’s ‘mission-oriented’ approach to economic growth and flagged upcoming policy for decarbonising Australia’s economy will take inspiration from it.
After individual meetings with the University College London professor in Sydney this week, both state Treasurer Daniel Mookhey and federal Industry and Science minister Ed Husic expressed public support for the Mission Economy and ideology busting themes behind it on Tuesday.
The approach puts government and civil service at the heart of bold, well-defined missions that are solved by genuine partnerships with the private sector, labour groups, civil society and other stakeholders.
Professor Mazzucato explained the approach at a Sydney lunch event on Tuesday, warning established actors that have “been able to extract rent” through government “handouts” will oppose the shift towards a more symbiotic and accountable mission economy.
“Hopefully in Australia.. this will become a stimulant for some uncomfortable conversations and not just really friendly ones like the ones that we’ve been having… We should be wary if we’re not having uncomfortable conversations,” she said.
Neither state or federal Labor can claim any piece of policy that could be considered a true ‘mission’ scale. But on Tuesday at the event, Mr Mookhey acknowledged the role of the state in industrial and innovation policies needs to expand and Mr Husic said decarbonisation is a chance for a mission approach.
Mr Mookhey said he and the “mission-driven” Minns government is a “fan” of the influential economist’s key argument.
“It’s the believe that citizens can benefit if government strives to be better entrepreneurs, instead of just outsourcing all our hard problems to consulting firms and others from the private sector,” he said.
Mr Mookhey said Professor Mazzucato’s work has been a valuable counterpoint to the ideological view that the state is a “naturally inept actor” and that innovation and delivery was best left to the private sector.
“As we’ve learned here in New South Wales, the idea that privatization automatically means better outcome was just a kind of retelling of a fairy tale that public organisations naturally like killer instinct.”
The Minns government on Monday released a review of Sydney’s road toll system, finding it favours private companies over the motorists who will pay will pay $195 billion in tolls between now and 2060.
“It shows us a complicated system where families pay more than they should, because the system was built around financial concerns of investors not motorists,” Mr Mookhey said.
“All this is my way of saying mission and purpose matters. The mission oriented innovation programs developed by the Professor and her team changed lives and countries.”
Federal Industry and Science minister Ed Husic said the federal government also shares some of Mazzucato’s orthodoxy-challenging views, including the changing role and form of governments’ industry investment.
Professor Mazzucato argues that the view that the state should merely tinker with the market or repair it when it fails is a fallacy.
She says that governments should instead be shaping the market by making early investments in a way that crowds in private investment rather than investing as a last resort.
It’s an insight the Albanese government shares, Mr Husic said, pointing to a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund designed to “crowd in” funding from private investors, institutions and super funds.
Mr Husic also backed the mission approach to solving huge social and economic problems.
“There’s no greater challenge we face than the challenge of reaching net zero,” he said.
“The green energy transition will be the mission of all missions for the foreseeable future. Our government is up for embarking on that mission.”
The Albanese government is preparing a response to global competition for clean energy, expected to be a multi-billion-dollar package of incentives for local operations.
Mr Husic on Tuesday said the response will recognise the “realities of our time not the ideas of yesteryear”.
Professor Mazzucato will address a business dinner at the Plaza Ballroom in Melbourne on Wednesday. You can book a table or individual seat here.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.