Andrew Leigh

ANDREW LEIGH MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES
MEMBER FOR FENNER

ZHI SOON
CANDIDATE FOR BANKS

MORRISON GOVERNMENT FAILING AUSTRALIANS WITH UNDERPERFORMING ECONOMY

Stagnating wages and rising cost of living are forcing Australians to seek help from services like Oatley’s Allawah Care.

The volunteer-run service provides food and clothing to people in need, many using it as a “top up” to ease pressures on the household budget as underemployment and price hikes start to bite.

The hardworking people behind Allawah Care are doing vital work, but Australians should not have to be reliant on such services to make ends meet.

While Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg were splashing tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in JobKeeper on companies with rising revenues, ordinary Australians were falling behind. The charities they had to turn to were left struggling to do more with less, as COVID caused many volunteers to pull back.

But even before the pandemic, Australians weren’t seeing the economy we deserved.

The past ten years has been the slowest decade for growth per person of any decade in the post war era. Prices for food, fuel and childcare continue to rise while incomes stagnate. Wage growth under the Morrison Government has been tepid, unless you're a billionaire - billionaires collectively have doubled their wealth since Scott Morrison became Prime Minister.

This decade-old government clearly aren’t capable of ensuring that Australia has a more productive, dynamic and entrepreneurial economy. While they remain distracted by scandals and infighting, Labor has a clear plan for a better future with secure, well-paid jobs a priority so Australians can get ahead.

ENDS

Authorised by Paul Erickson, ALP, Canberra