Tony Abbott has highlighted his domestic political agenda during an opening address to world leaders in Brisbane, citing the abolition of carbon pricing, the hardline stance on asylum-seeker boat arrivals and “massively difficult” budget measures.



The Australian prime minister conceded his counterparts could raise any topic they wish in the G20’s closed-door leaders retreat – despite his wish that it remain economics-focused – after intense pressure from Europe and the US for stronger action on climate change.

And Abbott injected some Australian familiarity by urging prime ministers and presidents to address each other by their first names.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, mocked Abbott for a “weird and graceless” speech, saying the prime minister had used his moment in front of the world’s most important leaders to complain that Australians did not support a co-payment on visits to the doctor.

At the start of the leaders retreat in Brisbane, Abbott linked his domestic political agenda with the conference aim of spurring growth in G20 economies by 2%.

“The world is looking to all of us right now to try to demonstrate to an uncertain and at times anxious world there are people who know what they are doing, that there are people who have a plan, a plan for growth and for jobs,” he told the leaders representing 85% of the world’s gross domestic product.

Abbott called for a candid discussion, saying: “We may not always be able to agree but I hope we can at least be open with each other over this time.”

After long resisting any focus on what he sees as non-economic issues, including climate change, he conceded other things were likely to be raised.



“Obviously I would like this discussion to focus on the politics of economic reform, that’s what I would like the discussion to do … In the end, though, this is your retreat, it is open to any of you to raise any subject that you wish,” he said.

“The only rules, as far as I’m concerned, are if we can speak from our heart rather than from a script, that would be good. If we could be reasonably concise, five minutes please at the most, that would be good and if we could use first names, that would be good as well. Because whatever disagreements we might have, I think it helps if there can at least be personal warmth amongst us.”

Abbott then spoke of his own record in abolishing the carbon tax, stopping “illegal” asylum-seeker boats, building roads and repairing the budget. His budgetary goal, he said, was proving “massively difficult” because “it doesn’t matter what spending program you look at, it doesn’t matter how wasteful that spending program might appear, there are always some people in the community who vote, who love that program very much”.

He nominated deregulation of higher education fees and the introduction of a Medicare co-payment as especially difficult, but necessary reforms.

Shorten issued a statement denouncing Abbott’s speech as “a disastrous missed opportunity for Australia”.

“This was Tony Abbott’s moment in front of the most important and influential leaders in the world and he’s whingeing that Australians don’t want his GP tax,” the opposition leader said.

“This was his opportunity to show why Australia should be considered a world leader; he’s had months to prepare for this moment. Instead he boasted of taking Australia backwards on climate change action, making it harder for Australians to go to university and pricing sick people out of getting the healthcare they need.”

The Australian treasurer, Joe Hockey, speaking after a meeting of the finance ministers, said those in the room had a “collective determination to deliver more economic growth and as a result of that more jobs”.

He said the resolution to increase economic growth by 2% by 2018 was an “unprecedented break from business-as-usual” which, if achieved, would equate to “$2tn in additional global economic activity and millions of new jobs”.

“I want to emphasise that my finance minister colleagues and I are resolute in our determination to use all policy levers to generate growth and jobs,” Hockey said after the fifth and final meeting of finance ministers under Australia’s G20 presidency.

“Our individual growth strategies include over 1,000 measures that will lift infrastructure investment, increase trade and competition, cut red tape and lift labour market participation.”

Hockey said Abbott would have more to say on Sunday about the growth target and plans to establish a global infrastructure hub in Sydney to drive private sector investment.

The treasurer said G20 countries had also “set out to restore integrity and resilience to our tax bases, and give our citizens the confidence that everyone is paying their fair share of tax”.

“Our effort has continued right up to this summit, and I welcome the recent proposal to amend certain intellectual property regimes or ‘patent boxes’ to ensure that they are not inappropriately used for tax avoidance,” Hockey said. “This proposal continues our work on harmful tax practices and I commend it to other G20 and OECD members for their consideration.”

Civil society groups have reaffirmed calls for G20 leaders to take strong action against tax avoidance and to ensure inclusive growth so the benefits flowed to the poorest households.