Prime Minister snubs Coalition on eve of jobs summit

Anthony Albanese has snubbed his Coalition predecessors in a major speech on the eve of the jobs summit in Canberra.

Anthony Albanese has blamed the “ideological dogma” of past Coalition governments for some of the troubles plaguing the Australian economy.

The Prime Minister made the snub on the eve of the jobs and skills summit, as he reiterated his pledge to engage with both employers and unions.

Mr Albanese said it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Labor wanted to work closely with business and industry leaders around the country.

“I’m not talking about co-operation for the look of it, for appearances’ sake,” he said in an address to the Business Council of Australia dinner.

“I mean genuine engagement and substantial partnership, because this is how we will get things done in this country.

“It’s how we will drive the change and progress Australia needs.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told industry leaders at the Business Council of Australia the Labor government wants to work with them. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Mr Albanese took the opportunity to take a veiled swipe at his Coalition predecessors, whom Labor has blamed for stagnating wages and other workplace relations issues.

“I know there’s a school of political thought that views co-operation as capitulation, consensus as weakness,” Mr Albanese said.

“We’ve seen the damage that blinkered ideological dogma does to the economy; the toll it takes on the country.”

Mr Albanese said government shouldn’t stand as a barrier to business, but should instead serve as a partner.

“Of course, I’m not promising government and business will always agree, but I can guarantee we will always engage,” he said.

Mr Albanese said he was encouraged by the co-operation the peak bodies representing unions and business had already demonstrated.

Mr Albanese referred to business council chief executive Jennifer Westacott’s interview with ACTU secretary Sally McManus on the ABC on Sunday by way of example.

“I have to confess, I don’t always find watching Insiders on Sunday morning an uplifting experience,” he said.

“But I thought the conversation with you and Sally McManus was one of the best contributions to the public debate in a very long time.”

Mr Albanese earlier on Wednesday repeated his belief that Australians were suffering from “conflict fatigue”.

“This is not the end of the discussion at the jobs and skills summit,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“This in many ways is the start of it. The start of what I hope is a new era of collaboration.”

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley has said the jobs summit will be a talkfest. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

A cornerstone early promise of the new Albanese government, the summit will aim to bring together representatives from business, the public sector and the union movement to find common ground on enterprise bargaining and other issues.

The federal Liberal Party has chosen to boycott the summit, which will be held in Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday and Friday.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley called out the “over-representation” of unions on the guest list.

“Look, 10 per cent of workers are in unions, but 25 per cent of the attendees at the jobs summit are going to be the unions,” Ms Ley told the ABC.

She claimed the summit had been “stacked” with union representatives, whom she said had a “valid point of view” but a “predetermined outcome”.

“Led by a government with a predetermined outcome, who is taking instructions from those that it has installed at this summit, is really not in the interests of small business, of workers and the economy more broadly,” she said.

Nationals leader David Littleproud has said he will attend the event to ensure the interests of regional and rural Australia are represented.