Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the economy, investment and wages are down right across the nation, with our economic growth at its slowest since the global financial crisis, leaving more Macarthur households and businesses feeling the pinch. Despite worldwide economic devastation during the GFC, the then Labor government steered Australia into being one of the fastest-growing economies. Unfortunately, today under the Liberals we've dropped to 20th, according to the OECD. As Ross Gittins very ably points out in his article in The Sydney Morning Herald today, the government's policies might make good politics, but they're very bad economics. Minister Cormann has described wage growth as sluggish and has made it clear that this performance 'is a deliberate design feature of our economic architecture'—they are his comments—arguing that wages should be flexible to meet changing economic conditions.

It's shameful that the Liberals have run on platforms of jobs and growth—'If you have a go, you'll get a go'—yet go out of their way to restrict wage growth and cut penalty rates. Hospital waiting lists are blowing out for both outpatients and elective surgery. Australians don't want the Morrison government to shift the focus away from the real issue. Australians need an economy that provides for them and they deserve a government that works for them. Scott Morrison and the Liberals have been in government for six years, with the Prime Minister having once been Treasurer, so the buck must stop with them. We need to do more to stimulate our economy.