Their views are shared by Treasurer Bowen, who said in his economic note that although mining investment is easing, production and exports from existing projects will provide an ongoing benefit to the economy.
"Mining will remain a significant but smaller contributor to Australia's real GDP growth," Bowen said.
As countries like China re-balance their economies from investment to consumption, their demand for commodities will fall, the treasurer noted.
"This transition in the Asian region, from investment to consumption, is a natural one for developing economies to go through and it does not contradict the expectation that Asia will become the economic center of gravity in coming decades. But it does signal that the composition of Asian economies will change, with strong implications for our economy."
Finance Minister Penny Wong said the focus of economic policy, and the focus very much of this election, will need to be on which party can provide the plan for the future that steers Australia through this time of change.
Prime Minister Rudd unveiled a productivity plan last Thursday in his speech to the National Press Club.
He said the country's economic policy must now focus on a transition from an investment-intensive phase in the minerals and energy sector toward a focus on new investment in other sectors of the economy including the trade sector that will now be advantaged by a lower dollar.
"We need to re-energize productivity growth. It is through productivity growth that the majority of our wealth is generated over the long term," Bowen said in his economic note.
Westpac's McKay said Chinese structural change will demand Australia changes as well.
"As China becomes a more consumer driven economy, the opportunities for Australian services exporters will increase, as will the returns for consumer facing businesses that make gains inside the Chinese market by investing directly," he said.
"The good news for Australia is that the industries that will benefit from future Chinese growth are more employment intensive than resources, which has been at the center of the previous relationship."
Teetering building demolished in Wuhan
Feedback
RSS
