There's been agreement from the world's 20 wealthiest nations to work together on tackling tax evasion and tax avoidance. Australia wants to close international loopholes that have allowed major companies such as Apple and Amazon to reduce their tax bills.
Mr Hockey is also celebrating the progress towards the goal set in Sydney in February to raise global growth by two per cent above current projections over five years.
He announced today that the nations are almost there. They have identified measures that will lift global growth by 1.8 per cent.
"The job is not done, but by God we have made great strides here in Cairns and that has been very encouraging," Mr Hockey said. "As of today we have committed to over 900 policy initiatives that will help to make the economy around $2 trillion larger over the next four years."
But the leaders acknowledge there are problems that could stifle growth.
The G20's final communique specifically highlighted the Ebola crisis. It says the members “are concerned about the human cost of the Ebola epidemic, and the potentially serious impacts on growth and stability in the affected countries and wider region”.
International Monetary Fund chief, Christine Lagarde, also identified tensions between Russia and Ukraine as a potentially destabilising factor. But it seems the concern does not extend to the consensus required to bar Russian President, Vladimir Putin, from the leaders' meeting in Brisbane this November.
US Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew, said he hopes the situation will be different in two months.
If it isn't, the US will send a warning to Russia.
“President Putin will hear directly what he's hearing through economic sanctions and other expressions now, which is that Russia's actions are unacceptable,” Mr Lew said.
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