Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to also take note of questions on the economy asked of Senator Cormann by Senator Gallagher and Senator Walsh. Time and time again we come into this place to talk to the government about the economy, and they pretend over and over again that everything is rosy. Senator Scarr has pointed the finger at the economic headwinds internationally, but time and time again we do not see an adequate response from this government, neither in the way they answer questions nor in the way they manage the economy. They come into this place without a plan to manage the Australian economy and deal with these headwinds.

Just this week, media reporting on the Australian Industry Group's Performance of manufacturing index has painted a very stark picture of the Australian economy, highlighting the lack of direction from the Morrison government to boost the economy. This is my own portfolio area. In manufacturing you can see the overall economic slowdown flowing down into different sectors of the economy. It shows that Australian manufacturing is indeed contracting. It is no longer growing; it is displaying its weakest performance since 2016. It shows a weakening in building materials, wood, furniture, metal products, machinery and equipment; and paper printing, textiles, clothing and paper. It also shows, very troublingly, a drop in employment and wages.

The Morrison government claimed that the economy would improve in the next quarter. When Senator Cormann answered questions on the economy in question time today, he never adequately reflected on the negative state of the economy—where and why the economy is in difficulty—because he wants to continue saying that things are rosy. He wants to continue to believe that our economy does not need government leadership and government intervention. He simply ignores the parlous state of the Australian economy.

But we can see that real growth figures are well below average, well below forecasts and well below what is needed to get wages growing again in our nation. Weak growth like this is inevitable. It is an absolute consequence of a government that has only a political strategy and not an economic plan. This government has ignored repeated calls, not only from the opposition but also from the Reserve Bank and other industry players, for a proportionate and measured stimulus that will support the economy. These calls have come from the Reserve Bank, the business community, economists and experts, and indeed from the Labor Party.

When it put forward its mediocre package on infrastructure, the government pretended that this was the kind of stimulus it was prepared to put forward. This is not an adequate economic stimulus for our economy. It does not meet the test that the experts are calling for. It's high time that Senator Cormann, when answering questions in this place on the economy, or failing to answer those questions, held his own government to account—Minister Frydenberg and Prime Minister Morrison. Every time he comes in here, it is without a comprehensive plan to support our floundering economy, boost wages and lift productivity. When the government comes in here and answers questions on the economy, there is simply nothing that it speaks to that even touches the sides of dealing with the real issues around boosting wages, lifting productivity and boosting the state of the Australian economy. As we head towards Christmas, we see very weak results in the nation's manufacturing sector. The order books and wages are down. There is a faster rate of contraction— (Time expired)