Anthony Albanese dumps Bill Shorten agenda for productivity plan

Anthony Albanese will outline Labor’s ‘productivity project’ to boost the economy as he visits a key battleground state.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: AAP

Anthony Albanese will outline Labor’s “productivity project” to boost the economy and move to dump Bill Shorten’s tax-and-spend agenda before the next election.

Delivering his first major speech on the economy in the battleground state of Queensland, the federal Opposition Leader will say Labor has learned the “lessons from our recent mistakes­”, referencing Mr Shorten’s failed election strategies.

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In his second “vision statement” since taking on Labor’s top job, he will also make a direct link between climate change and the bushfire crisis, saying it should be a “wake-up call for anyone who still questions the science”.

While unveiling no new polic­ies, nor committing to dump existin­g tax measures, Mr Albanese will map out Labor’s strategy to drive productivity, which he describes as key to driving “social mobility”.

Bill Shorten. Picture: AAP

Aware that Labor must win seats in Queensland to take office at the next election, he will give the speech in Brisbane and highlight infrastructure, investment in training, micro-economic reform and fiscal management as the four pillars underpinning future ALP economic policy.

“If we are to make the most of our natural endowments and geographical position, Australia has to engage in a productivity renewal­ project,” Mr Albanese will say.

“Productivity is the key to economic growth, international competitiveness and, ultimately, rising living standards underpinned in large part by long-term, sustainable wage growth. The priorities of our produc­tivity renewal project will be to lift investment in infrastructure, lift business investment and invest in our people.”

Labor’s productivity project will aim to combat challenges includin­g wage growth, popul­ation, congestion, climate change, an ageing population and intergenerational poverty.

In the same week as Scott Morrison announced he would fast-track infrastructure projects, Mr Albanese — a former infrastructure minister — will call for a targeted approach to construction across the nation. “Public infrastructure creates short-term stimulus and jobs, but boosts productivity for the long term,” he will say.

Mr Albanese will say Australia needs a high-speed broadband network built on 21st-century fibre “not 19th-century copper”, reiterate his support for high speed rail to “bring regional communi­ties closer to our capital cities”, and advocate for better roads to “cut travelling times and improve safety”. “The provision of infrastructure must be a first-order public policy priority,” he will say.

Mr Albanese will say Labor’s economic policies must be formul­ated from a “soft heart and a hard head” approach.

“Our fiscal priorities will be integrate­d with our long-term objective­s to increase our productivi­ty and, in turn, our livin­g standards and social mobilit­y,” he will say.