Anthony Albanese is Australia’s worst economic manager in more than a generation – and that’s no exaggeration.
He’s achieved the unthinkable feat of presiding over an embarrassing dive in living standards despite record-high government spending.
Under Labor’s watch, Australians have suffered the world’s biggest plunge in disposable incomes among OECD nations, and households have less money to spend than they did seven years ago.
After paying tax the average Aussie is poorer than they were when Labor came to power in 2022 as the cost-of-living crisis erodes their buying power.
And outside of the Covid lockdowns, the economy is growing at the slowest pace since the 1991 recession.
Yet the Reserve Bank of Australia has declared it won’t be cutting rates any time soon because inflation is still too high.
Borrowers are getting relief in New Zealand, the United States, UK, Canada and across Europe, and their incomes are going up.
But Australians are still slugged with monthly mortgage repayments that are almost double what they were when Labor won the election from the Liberals in 2022, following the harshest rate rises since 1989.
Anthony Albanese is Australia’s worst economic manager in more than a generation – and that’s no exaggeration (the Prime Minister is pictured with his fiancée Jodie Haydon)
While Australia isn’t in a technical recession, it has been in a per capita recession since early last year.
Output of goods and services from every Australian has been declining for a record seven straight quarters – worsening the country’s productivity crisis.
This per capita recession is even worse than the early 1980s era of stagflation when unemployment and inflation were both in double digits at the same time.
Now Treasurer Jim Chalmers has taken the extraordinary step of blaming spending by the Labor state governments for public sector expenditure hitting a record high during the September quarter.
‘Most of this was state spending, and the biggest part of the Commonwealth’s share was defence spending,’ he said in a media release on Thursday.
‘State and local spending represented 60 per cent of public demand growth in the quarter.’
This Labor government of former university student activists is choosing to point the finger at someone else rather than act like political grown-ups.
Until now, the government has ignored numerous warnings from Michele Bullock – the Reserve Bank Governor that Labor appointed no less – that both levels of government are spending too much money.
Under Labor’s watch, Australians have seen the biggest plunge in disposable incomes among OECD nations (stock image)
EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy noted: ‘It’s hard to find a government in Australia that doesn’t have a record high capital program over the next four years.’
Labor state governments in New South Wales and Victoria wouldn’t need to spend record amounts in the tens of billions on new train infrastructure projects if it wasn’t for record-high immigration.
Immigration is a federal issue, so it’s time the Albanese government actually did something.
A large share of the record 500,000 migrants coming to Australia every year move to Sydney and Melbourne – putting more pressure on the transport network.
Previous Labor governments slashed immigration during an economic crisis – under Paul Keating it dropped below 35,000 in 1993 so he could priortise tackling high unemployment.
Rather than cave in to the big business and the university lobby, the Albanese government could at least immediately halve immigration.
In fact, that’s what they promised to do in the May Budget but have yet to even vaguely deliver.
Labor could demonstrate it is in charge and above the demands of special interests.
Now Treasurer Jim Chalmers has taken the extraordinary step of blaming Labor state government spending for public sector expenditure hitting a record high during the September quarter
After all, surging population growth has barely stopped Australia from having a miserable economic growth pace of 0.8 per cent.
A population slowdown would at least take the pressure off services inflation.
It’s been 18 months since Dr Chalmers – who did a PhD on Keating as prime minister – made the extraordinary claim the federal government had no control over immigration.
‘That isn’t a government policy or a government target,’ he told the ABC’s Q+A program.
‘It’s not a floor or ceiling, it’s not something the government determines.’
Pardon? Why on earth do we elect governments, then?
First the Albanese government claims it doesn’t control immigration.
Then it blames someone else for government spending hitting a record 28 per cent share of GDP or gross domestic product.
With iron ore prices tipped to plunge next year, Canberra will collect less from company tax revenue.
No doubt, Labor will resort to its usual tactic of blaming someone else – or citing so-called ‘global factors’.
With an election due next year, Labor should grow a spine and tackle wasteful government spending by paring back NDIS cost blowouts and the Future Made in Australia green manufacturing subsidy scheme.
Under Labor’s watch, Australians have seen the biggest plunge in disposable incomes among OECD nations (pictured is a McDonald’s outlet on the Gold Coast)
It needs to stop pandering to the Greens who agreed with Labor to reduce carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 – a political goal that will be very costly to achieve.
Surely, cutting immigration rather than spending more money is the best way to reduce future carbon emissions. Just a thought.
Labor has been crowing about its two consecutive Budget surpluses but downplayed forecasts of deficits for years to come.
Dr Chalmers denied the charge from EY’s chief economist about ‘a sad economy without much hope’ – preferring instead to dismiss that observation with the line: ‘I don’t share the bleakest of those assessments.’
Admitting to a problem is the first step to tackling it, but that seems beyond this government.
To use a Gough Whitlam phrase beloved of Labor True Believers – It’s Time – to take some damn responsibility.
