Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

how tough Australians are doing it, they seek to come into this place and congratulate themselves for the state of the economy at the moment. I do agree with one element of this particular motion, that it is quite remarkable that Australia has entered its 27th year of consecutive economic growth. We do hold a world record as a nation for managing to grow our economy over that period, particularly during the wake of the global financial crisis, when Labor acted quickly when we were in government to buffer our economy and ensure that Australians remained in employment.

But the foundation for that growth that we've experienced over those 27 years is no doubt the strong action and foresight of the Hawke and Keating governments in the reforms that they made when they were in government, which really laid the foundation for the strength of the Australian economy at the moment. Those were the governments that restructured our economy to modernise it. They opened up our economy, reduced tariffs and restructured our financial markets, including by floating the dollar and introducing foreign competition into the banking sector. They introduced competition policy, particularly into airlines and utilities, that saw greater benefits for customers and consumers. They basically created a competitive, open, durable economy that benefited all Australians, and it is all Australians that have benefited from that great work of the Hawke and Keating years.

But a key feature of that process of economic reform from the Hawke and Keating governments was to protect the vulnerable within Australian society. They did this through what was known as the social wage. Although there was a need to get wages growth down at the time, there was investment in the social wage. I'm talking about the establishment of Medicare. We all know that, at the time when the Hawke government introduced Medicare, those opposite, the conservatives in Australian politics, voted against it. They voted against it to the extent that they actually sent it back to an election. There was an election in 1984 about the conservatives' failure to pass Medicare and to agree to the will of the Australian people. We all know now that Medicare is a great benefit to the Australian people. Those governments established compulsory superannuation savings to ensure Australians would have enough to retire on in old age. They established the Prices and Incomes Accord. So, as the economy grew, living standards increased for all Australians and no-one was left behind.

That's the significant difference between the way that a Labor government reforms our economy and the conservatives, because we all know that, although our economy is growing at the moment, the average Australian is not feeling the joy from that growth. The average Australian is still struggling, and the benefits of that economic growth are not being shared equitably amongst all Australians. While profits are up, wages are certainly down and people's living standards are falling further and further behind. We have got record low wages growth in Australia at the moment and record levels of household debt, and that is why most Australians are feeling the pinch.

At the same time, this government has cut Medicare. They attempted to introduce the co-payment, and they've cut the rebate for diagnostic imaging. They made cuts to the tune of about $2 billion to hospital funding. They have made cuts to schools. There's an $11 billion difference between what Labor is proposing through a needs based model and what this government is delivering. They have made cuts to TAFE and completely decimated vocational training in this country. They have made cuts to university funding, cuts to homelessness services and cuts to aged care. It's laughable that they're talking about a royal commission into aged care in this country when they're partly to blame for that by cutting funding for that sector. Of course, we all know what's going on with energy policy and the ridiculous increases in electricity costs that households, consumers and small businesses have had to face because of this government. So, instead of coming in here and congratulating themselves, perhaps they should get out there in the real world and see just how the average Australian household, pensioner or small business is doing it in this country.

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