Rita Panahi: Prime Minister basks in China’s praise while Australia flounders in per capita recession

While Anthony Albanese enjoys lavish praise from the Chinese Communist Party, there are serious issues at home needing his attention.

Anthony Albanese is winning lavish praise from the Chinese Communist Party, the sort of praise that’ll make a former Victorian premier green with envy.

But while ‘handsome boy’ basks in the glow of Beijing’s adoration, there are serious issues at home needing his attention from the business community screaming out for reform to ordinary Australians forgoing medical attention due to the cost-of-living crisis.

The harsh reality is that our standard of living will decline further unless we see some meaningful action from the Labor government, and soon.

The Business Council of Australia, which represents some of the biggest employers in the country, including Wesfarmers, the big four banks and mining giants Hancock Prospecting and BHP, has issued a stark warning to the government; act now or watch living standards plummet.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: Supplied

The BCA has called for urgent action to address the harms caused by the Albanese government’s industrial relations changes and green energy madness that have seen productivity growth fall to a 60-year low.

The peak body also called for corporate tax reform, and with President-elect Donald Trump’s second term just two months away, there needs to be urgent action from the federal government to address the high regulation, high tax, anti-business environment it has helped create. Or watch as big business opts to invest in the US over Australia.

And, that will see more economic pain at a time when we can least afford it.

Some Australians cannot afford to see a doctor due to the cost-of-living crisis.

It’s shameful that we have working Australians who despite living in a prosperous country with universal healthcare cannot afford to see a doctor nor fill their prescriptions, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest “Patient Experiences” survey.

Some are delaying treatment while others are missing out entirely on the health care they need.

And, while the issue is most pronounced in the most socio-economically disadvantaged areas, it is also evident among the middle class with close to one in 10 delaying or failing to fill a prescription due to economic hardship.

So, while the PM gallivants around the world, winning praise from China and talking about the absurd fantasy of making Australia a “renewable energy superpower”, the country flounders in the longest per capita recession on record.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist