Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very glad to make some remarks on the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee Bill 2023, because economic inclusion is a vital part of how Australia ought to work. There's no point having a strong economy, a growth economy, a productive economy, if it's benefits are not shared, and economic inclusion is a big part of that. We've seen many instances in the past where unfortunately that hasn't been the case. There have been some sectors of the community that haven't been able to benefit from the Australian economy through a period of remarkable growth. We've obviously had 28 years of non-recessionary growth—something that many other countries could only dream of.

There were though, during that period, times when the benefits of that growth weren't evenly shared and you also had a growth in inequality. Some of the areas where we haven't achieved the kind of economic inclusion that we would like include are between men and women in Australia and certainly between First Nations Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. There is the issue of intergenerational equity that needs to be considered. We have circumstances where, as history moves on, parts of the community have done well, whether that's in asset and/or income terms, and others have been left behind.

Making sure that we can change our system and settings with a view to increasing economic inclusion should be a priority for all of us, all of the time.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour.