JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
RBA EXPECTS WEAK WAGES TO CONTINUE
When the Reserve Bank Governor has again warned that “wages growth is the lowest in decades” and this is “likely to be with us for some time”, the Morrison Government’s highest priority is to cut take-home pay for Australia’s working families.
When the Governor reminded us that “the unemployment rate is higher today than it has been for almost two decades” and “many people can't get the hours of work they want”, the Government’s industrial relations proposals will make work even less secure.
When the RBA expects “job shedding” after JobKeeper is cut at the end of March, the Liberals and Nationals have no plan for secure, well-paid jobs to replace it. That means more Australians will be left behind.
We want the economy to recover strongly from the worst recession in almost a century and we welcome any positive signs. But many working families, small businesses, industries and communities are still hurting.
The Morrison Government doesn’t understand that around two million Australians can’t find a job or the hours they need to support their loved ones and millions more can’t get ahead on wages which were stagnant before COVID-19 and are now even worse.
With that pain expected to continue, secure, well-paid jobs must be the Government’s priority during this ongoing and unpredictable pandemic. Instead, the Prime Minister and Treasurer are using this pandemic as an excuse to come after wages and super.
Right as the RBA is doing more, Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg are doing less, pulling the plug on the JobKeeper life support with no plan for secure well-paid jobs in its place, despite the Governor’s expectation that slowing employment growth and job shedding will be a direct result.
The Morrison Government is not on the side of millions of Australians who want to work hard and get ahead at a time when the RBA Governor has pointed to wages and job security as defining challenges for the recovery.
WEDNESDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 2021
