PM Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan should meet with top Australian CEO's “to see what is really going on”, Lindsay Fox suggests
PM Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan should meet with top Australian CEO’s “to see what is really going on”, Lindsay Fox suggest.
Fox spoke to reporters after participating in a business round table on infrastructure in Brisbane yesterday, where the trucking tycoon was part of a select group discussing ways to dig Australia out of the economic quick sand it finds itself in.
In the meeting, Fox suggested a “tax-free infrastructure bond with a yield of 7.5 percent” be established, including action to repair the country’s “antiquated transport system”.
“The proposal for lots of the cash that’s in our system today is for the Government to create an infrastructure bond … and that money can only be spent on infrastructure that will create jobs and give us something at the end of the day,” he is reported to have said.
Employees should be held on to, Fox suggests, using the symbolism of a cow and the milk it provides to explain how a business should view its staff.
“Yeah, nobody likes to cut back the workforce. Now, but then again, if you want a pint of milk you can’t afford to kill the cow because the cow’s got to keep on producing the milk,” he said.
But, the Linfox Group founder didn’t rule out cutting back hours to protect jobs.
He says productivity needs rise but that “everybody’s got to be prepared to care and share”
“If they care and share they might get down to nine days a fortnight; they might go down to four days a week; but stay in an income rather than be without an income,” Fox said.