Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The great irony of the member for Monash's contribution is he had five minutes in which he could outline the great positives of the economic performance of this government, and he used his entire five minutes to put down the report put out by the member for Bruce! It was an entirely negative speech from the member for Monash, full of rhetoric but there's nothing concrete in it.

I would like to commend the member for Bruce for putting forward this motion and for the important research he has done that puts hard numbers to what we all know. I do take the member for Monash's point that we are dealing with real people facing real life situations, not just statistics. But the statistics, the numbers, are the broader picture of what is happening down at ground level. The numbers do not lie. These numbers show dispassionately, factually, without spin, without agenda, that Australia has gone backwards under eight years of Liberal government, eight years of Liberal mismanagement and gross economic incompetence. The research—the facts—rips away the veil. It exposes the Liberals as economic charlatans unfit to govern this country.

We already know that the Liberals are a party lacking in both moral and ethical leadership, drowning in rorts and scandals, and with a Prime Minister unwilling to act because his office sits at the centre of the entire stink. Now, thanks to the member for Bruce, we can also put hard figures to the argument that the Liberals are also lacking in economic credibility. Despite the rotting stench that lies at the heart of this Liberal government, there are many in the community who, in the absence of this report, would hold their nose and say to themselves, 'The Liberals might be rotten, they might be cruel, they might be wrecking aged care and the NDIS, they might be literally stealing money from pensioners under robodebt, but at least they can manage the economy.' That's what people have been told for years—that the Liberals are the better economic managers and you can't trust Labor with money. That's the mantra we've all grown up with. It's been driven into people's brains as truth, but it is fairytale.

This report—the facts—strips away this fiction. The Liberals are not better economic managers. The Australian economy did better under Labor. Australian workers and their families did better under Labor, and they will do better under Labor again. Since the 2013 election Australian wages, under a Liberal government, have either stagnated or fallen. The only reason the gap between women's and men's wages has narrowed slightly is that men's wages aren't rising. In real terms Australians now earn almost one per cent less than they did eight years ago. Think about that. Eight years ago you were earning a wage and eight years later you are earning almost one per cent less. It is unfathomable.

Australia, under the Liberals, is third-last of the 35 OECD countries on wages growth. What a record! We have a new OECD secretary-general on the way, and I think he was the one who went on TV and said low wages growth was a deliberate feature of the economic architecture of this government. So hopefully the new OECD secretary-general is well placed to provide some advice to this government about how to get wages moving in this country. Under the Liberals, Australia now has the third-most-unaffordable housing market in the OECD. In Tasmania, my state, with the end of the National Rental Affordability Scheme we have pensioners literally being evicted this week and moving into cars and tents because there is nowhere to go. Just think about that. They have safe secure housing now but, because they can't afford the rent, which is going up to a commercial rent, they are being evicted—pensioners being evicted and going to live in cars and tents. It is an absolute disgrace that is happening under Liberal leadership here in Canberra and in Tasmania.

Under the Liberals, Australia is less productive. Micro-economic reform and productivity are the key to growth. Under this government, Australia has gone backwards. When Labor left office Australia was the 10th-most-productive nation in the OECD. Eight years of Liberal mismanagement has seen us slip to fifth-last. We need to do better. (Time expired)

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