Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott, a critic of the government’s industrial relations policies, called for businesses and government to work together to solve long-term problems such as the housing shortage and energy transition.

“I think populism just takes the focus away from the issues,” Scott told this masthead.

“We’ve got some really important issues facing the country, we’ve got a cost-of-living crisis, we’ve got a housing shortage, and we need to continue to find a path towards net zero, all of these things need business and government to work really closely together.”

When asked what Labor had done to put some in the business community offside, Scott said: “I think it’s worth noting that a lot of the problems we’re trying to solve are really difficult problems. They need a long-term focus, they need to engage business.”

“Most of the big problems need to be supported with the ingenuity, the investment that business brings,” he added.

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Following ongoing political debate over alleged “price gouging” by big business, BCA president Geoff Culbert said in his speech that businesses had become “a convenient scapegoat for all manner of challenging issues, and it’s coming from all sides of politics.”

“We have to resist the cycle of populist short-term thinking,” he added. “We have to be prepared to face into and tackle the hard issues that will define our future. And the scapegoating of business has to stop.”

The dinner was attended by many of the most powerful people in the country, including Albanese, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, and a wide range of corporate bosses including Atlassian chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes, Telstra CEO Vicky Brady, Coles CEO Leah Weckert and National Australia Bank CEO Andrew Irvine.