Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Bring back Bronwyn Bishop! I'm pleased to speak on the motion moved by the member for Fraser which notes the government's economic mismanagement. I thank him for bringing it to the chamber. It highlights the government's sustained failure to deliver improved economic outcomes for Australians during its seven long, wasted years in office. I just want to repeat that: this is the coalition's seventh year in office. We heard from the previous speaker that, somehow, this is the Labor Party's manufacturing of economic dire straits.

The current dismal economic prospects for working Australians have this coalition government's economic fingerprints all over them, as mentioned by the member for Fraser. Just last week we saw new economic data revealing that wages growth, which has been weak, has further stalled. The ABS Wage Price Index confirmed that wages growth remained stagnant at 2.2 per cent, effectively meaning that many people are going backwards. That falls way short of the budget forecast, which had been downgraded only two months ago. The Treasurer's claim that 'wages growth is a core focus for this government' is a joke. A core focus? It's been a complete failure. January labour force figures, also released last week, show youth unemployment has increased to 12.1 per cent. There are now 271,000 young Australians without a job. That's disgraceful. In my home state of Queensland, it's even worse at 15.6 per cent. About one in six young Queenslanders are unemployed.

But it's not just the unemployed; it's also the underemployed. Recent labour force figures reveal a record high number of underemployed Australians. Figures reveal that 1.2 million Australians are looking for more work but are unable to find it. There are 273,000 more Australians underemployed today than in 2013 when the Abbott government took office. Since Prime Minister Morrison took office, there are nearly 90,000 more underemployed people.

Labor's been calling on the government to take action about the growing problem of underemployment for more than five years. The underemployment rate of 8.6 per cent and the underutilisation rate of 13.9 per cent for January are both way too high. The result of all of this is that more than two million Australian citizens are underutilised—they're looking for work or more work because the coalition's economy is floundering.

The serious structural issues that the Morrison Liberal government has not dealt with in the labour market will continue to generate insecure work and low wages growth. This is a recipe for generational inequality. Not surprisingly, those who've already had a pretty good go at accumulating wealth are the only ones who are continuing to get a go. Wage earners with few assets are struggling just to break even, and some are going backwards. Those who've already accumulated substantial assets will be the big winners as their assets increase in value. Falling interest rates mean cheap money, which in turn pushes up asset prices.

These twin problems plaguing the economy—growing unemployment and low wages growth—are impacting on Australians everywhere. We can see that it's harder for working Australians to make ends meet, to pay the bills and to pay off debt. Working Australians are trying to have a go. But if economic growth doesn't improve, their chances of getting ahead are zero.

The decision of General Motors last week to finish off forever the iconic Holden brand in Australia was the result of nearly seven years of manufacturing neglect by the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments. I remember former Treasurer Joe Hockey goading General Motors to leave Australia. Wasn't that a wise decision! Of course Holden chose to close down their car-making factories in Melbourne and Adelaide the very next day, way back in December 2013. And what has the government done since? Without government support, Holden's gone.

Government action or inaction has consequences for the market. The coalition government ripped away support from the car industry, and this is the result. The decision to end the brand—to see dealerships disappear all along the Moorooka magic mile and elsewhere, along with between 600 and maybe 6,000 jobs—is in part a result of the neglect and indifference of the A-T-M governments. Australians who've worked for the Holden brand for generations, Australians who've built their businesses and livelihoods around the Holden brand and Australians who've owned and driven Holden motor vehicles their whole lives—these people all deserve an explanation from the Morrison government.

Australians need a plan to boost the economy and get wages moving again. But the Morrison-McCormack government is too busy finger-pointing, blame-shifting, attacking unions and playing musical chairs to actually do their job. Like much of the Australian economy, wages growth was weak long before the bushfires hit or anyone had heard of the coronavirus. For seven years, the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments have failed to address this fundamental economic challenge that impacts on the lives of all working Australians. It's time the Morrison government stopped navel-gazing and focused on coming up with a comprehensive plan to restore the economic and wages growth— (Time expired)

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