Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That the House:

(1) notes:

  (a) today's National Accounts confirm Australia is in recession for the first time in three decades;

  (b) Australia has plunged into the worst recession in almost a century;

  (c) one million Australians are out of work, with 400,000 more expected to lose their jobs by Christmas;

  (d) the Reserve Bank Governor says unemployment is going to be higher for longer, and still around seven per cent in two years' time; and

  (e) the Prime Minister is withdrawing support for Australians and the economy; and

(2) therefore, calls on the Government to develop a plan to create jobs for Australians instead of withdrawing support and cutting wages.

Leave not granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion immediately—That the House:

(1) notes:

  (a) today's National Accounts confirm Australia is in recession for the first time in three decades;

  (b) Australia has plunged into the worst recession in almost a century;

  (c) one million Australians are out of work, with 400,000 more expected to lose their jobs by Christmas;

  (d) the Reserve Bank Governor says unemployment is going to be higher for longer, and still around seven per cent in two years' time; and

  (e) the Prime Minister is withdrawing support for Australians and the economy; and

(2) therefore, calls on the Government to develop a plan to create jobs for Australians instead of withdrawing support and cutting wages.

At the very time when the economy is under pressure and unemployment is going up, support for the unemployed is going down, both in terms of the JobKeeper reductions, in terms of rates, and in terms of the withdrawal of support—

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