Slowing tech investment complicates Chalmers’ growth goal

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ hopes of reversing a long-term forecast slump in Australia’s economic growth could be undermined by companies falling behind global peers in critical technology investment.

Spending on machinery and equipment as a portion of the economy fell from between 7 per cent to 8 per cent in the early 2000s to just over 4 per cent last year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.