Press conference, Logan Diggers Services Club, Queensland

JIM CHALMERS, TREASURER:

Welcome to Diggers and welcome to Logan. Right around Australia, there's an appetite for some real talk about our economic challenges, and a genuine hunger to come together to see where we can find the common ground to meet the moment, to rise to the occasion, and to deal with the challenges in our economy. And in every corner of Australia over the last few weeks, there have been a number of workshops and roundtables and mini summits in the lead up to the Albanese Government's Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra next week. And there has been a remarkable outpouring of collegiality, cooperation and collaboration as we understand and grapple with challenges in our labour market and in our economy more broadly. There are no shortages of challenges in our jobs market, we've got national unemployment down near three and a half per cent, and that's a very good thing. But that brings with it labour shortages and skill shortages in some parts of the country, and some parts of the economy. And we've still got an unacceptably high amount of long‑term unemployment and youth unemployment concentrated in communities like mine. So, this is very personal for me ‑ bringing people together today and then bringing people together nationally.

Our task when it comes to the labour market and the economy will never be finished while there are people who are still denied opportunities in this country. Our reason for being is to make sure there are more opportunities for more people in more parts of Australia. If you think about this community itself, north of Compton Road, the unemployment rate is 3.7 per cent. On this side of Compton Road, it's 6.2 per cent. And that gives you an indication, and gives you a flavour of the challenge that we have in our labour market and making sure that no community is left behind. So this will be a key concern, a key focus of the Jobs Summit next week in Canberra ‑ how do we make sure that the opportunities of a growing economy and a tight labour market are within the reach of more and more people so that we can grow this economy together and so that people can have the benefits of work. They can work hard, they can get ahead, they can feed themselves and the people that they love.

Another challenge in the economy is obviously the ongoing impact of COVID. Our labour market has been absolutely smashed by COVID, and by long‑COVID recently. And we've released numbers that show something like 31,000 Australians are missing work each day because of the impacts of long‑COVID, as part of a bigger challenge that we have in managing COVID itself. So whether it's labour shortages, the impact of long‑COVID, concentrated disadvantage, and long‑term unemployment in communities like this one, there's no shortage of issues for us to grapple with at the local level and at the national level as well. I've been really heartened, I've been really motivated, enthused and energised by the appetite that's been shown around the country already to come together around these big economic challenges. The Jobs Summit next week in Canberra, the Albanese Labor Government itself, is motivated by two things, creating more opportunities for more people, and bringing people together around these big economic challenges. You'll see that today in Logan, you've seen that around the country in the last couple of weeks, and you'll see it next week in Canberra as well. We are not naive about the possibilities of the Jobs Summit, we know that there'll be contentious issues, we know that not everybody who goes there will get exactly everything that they want. But it's worth the effort to seek that common ground, to find that common ground and to move forward together. Happy to take your questions.

JOURNALIST:

Can you give us a sneak peek of any of the ideas that might be put on the table during the Summit?

CHALMERS:

One of the really welcome developments in the last couple of weeks has been that participants in the Jobs Summit in Canberra, but indeed, others from right around Australia over the last little while, have been putting forward their ideas and putting them into the public domain ‑ and that's what we wanted to see. So clearly, there is an appetite for a more sensible migration program, clearly, we can do more to make sure that we are training people and teaching people for these labour shortages and skill shortages that we're seeing in the economy. Clearly the enterprise bargaining system is broken. It's not delivering that decent long‑term responsible sustainable wages growth that we want to see in the economy, but that has been missing for the best part of a decade. Clearly there are ideas put forward by the tech community and the ACTU about tech apprenticeships and the like ‑ so there are a whole range of really terrific ideas that people have floated. There won't be unanimous agreement around any of those, but let's see if we can find some common ground. Areas like migration, participation, skills and training, industrial relations, all of these important issues. How can we tackle the gender pay gap issues of women's participation in the labour market? Some really important welcome issues have been put forward. Not everybody will agree with every single issue, but there's been a really important, welcome spirit of collaboration and cooperation already, and I'd like to see that continue not just through the Summit, but afterwards as well.

JOURNALIST:

We're expecting COVID for the long term, for many, many years to come coming in those peaks and troughs. Is it concerning to see those three million working days lost just in 2022?

CHALMERS:

When we consult closely with employers and with unions, one of the issues which is consistently raised with us is how do we deal with the fact that people have been unable to work because of COVID, including because of long‑COVID. That is a very big concern to us. And when you go around the country, as I have been, speaking in local communities, often the skills shortages and labour shortages, which were already there have been turbocharged by COVID‑19. So obviously that will be a key concern of the Jobs and Skills Summit as well. We want a healthy workforce, we want a productive workforce, and we want a well‑paid workforce, and all of these challenges are intertwined.

JOURNALIST:

Obviously, cost of living is a huge pressure for people at the moment, will there be anything coming out this Summit that will help people ease their hip‑pocket pain?

CHALMERS:

The best way to ease hip‑pocket pain is to get people's wages moving again. We've had this wasted decade of missed opportunities and messed up priorities, and needless division and conflict and complacency. Australians have paid a very real price for that, when it comes to stagnant wages. Our previous government had a policy of deliberate wage stagnation and wage suppression, and we take a different approach, which is we want people to be able to provide for themselves and their loved ones and get ahead. The best way for that to happen, is for people to get sustainable and decent wages growth. So that's our high priority when it comes to the Jobs and Skills Summit. We've also got some other cost of living relief coming in areas like medicines and child care. And we're open to any other proposals that people might put forward at the Jobs and Skills Summit, conscious of the very real budget constraints we have around that budget, which is absolutely heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal Party debt. But consistent with that, and recognising that if there are other ideas put forward, we'll obviously engage with them.

JOURNALIST:

The National Farmers Federation would like to see some potential legislation on policy changes around a lack of competition, as they call it, is that something you're considering?

CHALMERS:

We listen closely to the National Farmers Federation. My colleague, Murray Watt, has a great working relationship with the NFF, in working closely in areas like foot and mouth disease, and we want to see that cooperation and collaboration continue. So we take seriously the ideas put forward by the NFF, and indeed, by the agricultural sector, regional communities, and others right around Australia. Those sorts of considerations will be a matter for Murray and for the Jobs Summit to tease out.

JOURNALIST:

On a slightly different matter Treasurer, a big issue this week is a number of teachers who did not get vaccinated during the time of the mandate, getting a financial penalty imposed. Are you supportive of workers who didn't get vaccinated at the time of the mandates, then getting a financial penalty?

CHALMERS:

I'm supportive of our teachers getting vaccinated. I want to make sure that as many of our teachers, indeed, as many Australians as possible, have the vaccine. I'd like them to set a good example for our kids, and I'd like them to look after their own health. The best way to do that is to get vaccinated. These programs, these penalties determined are at the state level, largely, but I think whatever we need to do to get those vaccination rates up, we should be doing.

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer, can you give us an idea of the number of Queenslanders impacted by long‑COVID?

CHALMERS:

I'm happy to provide those numbers. The national number as you know is 31,000 a day and there have been millions of days lost to long‑COVID throughout the course of the year. We're happy to try and break that out for you in a Queensland sense, but this is one of the big concerns that people raise with us. No doubt I'll get it at the local summit this week and at the national summit next week.

JOURNALIST:

Do you have any idea if that number is reducing or if we should expect it to reduce?

CHALMERS:

The interesting thing or the concerning thing about the long‑COVID numbers is that we cannot assume that once people have gone through the worst of COVID, that is the end of the matter. What concerns us about these numbers is the long‑COVID aspect of it, 31,000 Australians a day calling in sick because of long‑COVID. And that's just a reminder of what we're up against in the labour market ‑ happy to provide any further information that I can.

JOURNALIST:

Have you given any consideration to people who have lost all their sick leave now, and are now losing both working days and potentially sick leave?

CHALMERS:

These numbers don't disaggregate people with sick leave or without sick leave. You know, we've recently extended some of the arrangements that the Government provides, working closely with state governments and welcome those. Obviously, that program cannot continue forever. But a lot of the employers of the people in these numbers that we've released have arrangements for people who are off sick. We encourage employers to be as accommodating as they can, when it comes to people dealing with this issue.

JOURNALIST:

Will long‑COVID be a focus of Australia's new Centre for Disease Control?

CHALMERS:

Of course, the Centre for Disease Control is an important way for us to understand the big trends when it comes to this pandemic, but in terms of future pandemics as well, we want to be as prepared as we can be. This pandemic evolves, as all do, and we want to learn from it, and we want to be better prepared next time around.

JOURNALIST:

And when will the Centre be delivered?

CHALMERS:

That's a matter for Mark Butler, who's the primary minister there. We're all supportive of having a Centre for Disease Control, and when there are more details about that to be released then Mark will release them. Great, thanks very much everyone.