JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

THE DOWNTURN WE DIDN’T HAVE TO HAVE

Australia had the worst performing economy in the developed world in the September quarter - as a direct result of the Morrison Government’s incompetence.

Of the 28 countries that have released their data for the last quarter so far, Australia under the Liberals and Nationals is dead-last.

Billions of dollars a week wouldn’t have been bleeding from the national economy were it not for the lockdowns made necessary by Scott Morrison’s failures on quarantine, vaccines and economic support.

This was the big economic downturn Australia didn’t have to have. 

Today’s National Accounts show that GDP contracted 1.9 per cent in the September quarter – the third-worst outcome since these records were kept.

This is the downturn Scott Morrison caused and Australian working families are paying for.

While the economies of the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada all grew, Australia’s shrank substantially.

The economy is now smaller than it was at the end of 2019.

You cannot believe a word Scott Morrison says about the recovery, and Josh Frydenberg is no better. 

The Treasurer said the economy was “roaring back” in May but now presides over the third biggest economic downturn in the nation’s history.

These are the costs and consequences of Scott Morrison’s incompetence, which plunged more than 60 per cent of the nation into lockdown and bled billions of dollars a week from the Australian economy.

Australian workers and small businesses are the unwilling victims of a devastating downturn which could have been avoided.

Australians are paying more while they’re earning less, with the costs of essentials like petrol and rent skyrocketing at the same time as real wages are going backwards.

The Coalition’s rhetoric doesn’t match the reality for the almost 200,000 people out of work in the last two months alone, with now two million Australians who are unemployed or underemployed.

Labor is pleased shops are reopening and people are getting back to work but this must be the right kind of recovery – broad, enduring, inclusive and strong.

Australians cannot afford another wasted decade or risk another three years of attacks on wages, job security, superannuation and Medicare.

WEDNESDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2021