The Enforceable Undertaking has been provided in relation to NAB’s review and remediation of its payroll issues. NAB has been undertaking a program of work to ensure all staff affected have been identified and remediated.
Australia has all the ingredients for success: NAB CEO addresses AFR Banking Summit - NAB
18 March 2025
Company Announcements Economy and Markets
CEO highlights Australia’s economic strengths
NAB Group CEO Andrew Irvine spoke at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit about NAB’s leading business bank, as well as productivity and growth in Australia.
Australia has all the ingredients for success
Mr Irvine said Australia is the lucky country, but lucky is not going to be enough forever.
“We have all the ingredients we could need. We just struggle to find a recipe.”
Mr Irvine said productivity in housing, resources and energy are all key challenges.
“We’re suffocating the development of dwellings. It’s too hard to get planning permission and it takes too long,” Mr Irvine said.
NAB CEO Andrew Irvine (right) with AFR Chanticleer columnist James Thomson at the AFR Banking Summit in Sydney on Tuesday.
“We’ve also got an issue with skills and labour. There are not enough skilled workers to go on job sites to get dwellings done. There are work practices and housing modalities where we’re not leading the way.”
Despite being blessed with the greatest resources per capita of any country in the world, Mr Irvine said mining was also an issue for Australia.
“It takes more than 20 years to get a mining project from inception to production,” Mr Irvine said.
“Capital goes where it gets the best returns. We have no innate right to capture that capital unless we’re a great place for that capital to want to come.”
Mr Irvine said Australia also must do better when it comes to energy.
“We’re a big country. We’ve got lots of wind, we’ve got lots of hydro, the sun shines a lot in Australia, we’ve got gas everywhere – and we have an energy crisis. We’ve got to do better.”
“Business banking is in our DNA”
When asked about NAB’s leading business bank franchise, Mr. Irvine said the bank cannot rest on its laurels.
“This is an area NAB is exceptional in. Business banking is in our heritage, and in our DNA,” Mr Irvine said.
“We bank more than one in four businesses and more than one in three farmers. Australia needs us and we’re out and about.”
This month, Andrew visited customers in Newcastle and the Hunter Region.
“We have 6,000 bankers up and down the country who look after their customers with distinction and that model is hard to replicate.”
Commenting on recent leadership changes, Mr Irvine said incoming Business Banking Executive Andrew Auerbach is going to be a great fit for NAB’s business and that the bank wouldn’t be distracted.
“We’re continuing to invest in our leadership position in business banking because we know it’s competitive out there.”
“We are not here to defend it, we are here to extend it. We want to drive this business hard, and we’re going to do that.”
“I believe to my core that if you look after customers that they look after you.”
Related Articles
Contact us
Media Enquiries
For all media enquiries, please contact the NAB Media Line on +61 3 7035 5015