Coronavirus: Anthony Albanese to outline ALP’s recovery plan

Anthony Albanese will outline Labor’s alternative budget manifesto to kickstart economic growth.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will deliver a major pre-budget speech on Wednesday. Picture: Richard Dobson

Anthony Albanese will outline Labor’s alternative budget manifesto to kickstart economic growth, calling for major funding increases across new infrastructure projects, social housing, boosting skills programs and bankrolling an expansion of Australia’s manufacturing and renewable energy sectors.

The Opposition Leader, who is preparing to release new Labor policies in his budget reply next week, will use a major pre-budget speech to the McKell Institute on Wednesday to attack Scott Morison’s leadership and call for “a real plan for recovery”.

“For me, there are three immediate priorities next Tuesday. Jobs. Jobs. And jobs. We’ve got to get this nation back to work. And fast. To do that we must generate the economic activity that will create new jobs quickly while also boosting our productivity,” Mr Albanese will say.

“One of the fastest ways to get money into the economy and tradies back on the tools is to invest in social housing. We should boost social housing repair and maintenance programs.”

Ahead of the Prime Minister releasing the government’s manufacturing strategy on Thursday, Mr Albanese will promote more targeted financial support for skills, training, research and universities.

“As of today, there are more than 140,000 fewer Australians in training than there were when Labor left office. And the Treasury has reported a 20 per cent fall in new apprenticeship starts in the four months to July, compared to the same period last year,” he will say.

“Last week, the Reserve Bank said that in places where the economy was beginning to strengthen, it was being held back by skills shortages. We’ve got to do something about this skills shortage now.

“The government should also lift investment in early education and universities. Since universities were excluded from JobKeeper, they’ve had to sack more than 10,000 Australians. These are our researchers, our teachers, some of our best and brightest.”

On manufacturing, Mr Albanese will call on the government to back “Australian-based jobs”. “This is just one example of how the government should use its purchasing power to create good, secure jobs while strengthening our sovereign industrial and research capabilities,” he will say.

He will also call for a “disciplined” approach to spending and warn that with “record debt, massive deficits and the economy in recession, every dollar of new spending must be used to protect jobs, create secure jobs, train and upskill Australians and support those who need help to pay bills and put food on the table”.

On leaving no one behind, Mr Albanese will say with “13 Australians applying for every job ­vacancy, it will take time for the business sector to generate enough jobs to get people back to work”.

“Yet, Mr Morrison has scaled back assistance under JobKeeper and JobSeeker. This is premature. Mr Morrison is leaving people behind. Worse than that, he’s kicking people while they are down.

“There are signs that the government sees the Morrison recession as a chance to pursue its ideological obsessions on superannuation and industrial relations. For the Liberals, industrial relations reform is usually code for making it easier for bosses to sack staff and undermine their pay and conditions.”

In the speech, titled “Labor values and the path to recovery”, Mr Albanese will say Australia is in a “deep and painful recession”.

“Nearly a million Australians are unemployed. And 400,000 more will join them by Christmas. The Morrison recession has hurt those in insecure work most.”

Mr Albanese will also launch an attack over the Morrison government’s $4.5bn announcement to upgrade broadband speeds, saying the government “missed the economic reform opportunity of a lifetime by trashing the former Labor Government’s fibre-to-the-premises National Broadband Network”.

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