(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says as chair of the G20 group, Australia will be promoting free trade, reduced government spending, and a sustainable private sector.
Mr Abbott has outlined Australia's vision for the G20 in an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Zara Zaher reports.
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Australia will become chair of the G20 at a meeting in Brisbane in November.
And Tony Abbott has made it clear he'll be using the opportunity to promote free market economics across the world.
In his address in Davos, Mr Abbott said it was the G20 which helped avert a disaster developing from the recent Global Financial Crisis.
He says the G20 must now go further to show that prosperity comes from a private sector based on citizens enjoying the freedom to create markets.
"Even though the crisis was the gravest economic challenge the world has faced since the 1930s, it's important to remember that it was not a crisis of markets, but one of governance. Then it was the G20 which helped to coordinate the actions which prevented another Great Depression. The challenge as we continue to work through the weaknesses that brought on the crisis is to strengthen governance without suppressing the vitality of capitalism. The crisis after all has not changed any of the basic laws of economics. The lesson of recent history, whether it's the collapse of the Soviet-style Communism, the phenomenal growth of Asian economies or even the slow and painful recovery from the crisis of 2008 and 2009, is that real progress is always built on clear fundamentals."
Mr Abbott says one key principle underpinning economic growth is that governments must make sure they do not spend what they haven't got.
He says the truth of this principle was demonstrated in Australia during the Global Financial Crisis.
"Stronger economic growth is the key to addressing almost every global problem. Stronger growth requires lower, simpler and fairer taxes that don't stifle business creativity. And stronger growth requires getting government spending under control so that taxes can come down and reducing regulation so that productivity can rise. In the decade prior to the crisis, consisitent surpluses and a preference for business helped my country, Australia, to become one of the world's best performing economies."
Speaking just before Tony Abbott at the Davos gathering was the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani.
He said his country was aiming to become one of the world's top 10 economies within the next three decades.
Mr Rouhani promised an intensive effort to build trade ties with neighbouring countries and beyond.
And he again issued an assurance that his country does not seek to obtain a nuclear weapon.
"Iran in pursuing its nuclear energy program has never sought nor seeks anything other than peaceful application of this technology, and will not accept any obstacles on the way of its scientific progress. Accordingly, to those who are under the influence of propaganda and still believe that Iran to develop nuclear weapons, I strongly and clearly declare that nuclear weapons have no place in our security strategy, and that Iran has no motivation to move in that direction."
In an another speech in Davos, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an apparent reference to his country's potentially explosive dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea.
Mr Abe appealed to the world to restrain military expansion in Asia.
"If peace and stability were shaken in Asia, the knock-on effect for the entire world would be enormous. The dividend of growth in Asia must not be wasted on military expansion. We must use it to invest in the vision and human capital which will further boost growth in the region. Trust, not tension, is crucial for peace and prosperity in Asia and in the rest of the world. This can only be achieved through dialogue and the rule of law, and not through force or coercion."
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