Day-one disaster

Anthony Albanese’s shocking performance on day one of the election campaign is not the first time the alternative prime minister has shown his economic incompetence. By Josh Frydenberg.

On Monday, the first day of the federal election campaign, Australians were reminded why Anthony Albanese is completely out of his depth.

When asked, he did not know the unemployment rate.

He also did not know the cash rate.

He says this election is about jobs and cost of living yet he has no idea about the basic ­fundamentals.

This is not the first time ­Albanese has shown his economic incompetence.

He wanted to waste $6 billion of taxpayers’ money paying ­people to get a Covid jab who’d ­already had the jab.

He said when JobKeeeper ended, the economic roof would come “crashing down” – only for 120,000 more jobs to be created over the next three months.

He supported at the last election $387 billion of higher taxes on retirees, housing, super family businesses and income earners; higher taxes that would have smashed the economy during the Covid pandemic, the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression.

Having never held a Treasury portfolio and having never ­delivered a Budget, the leader of the opposition is simply not up to the job of managing Australia’s $2 trillion economy.

In stark contrast, the ­Coalition’s economic plan has seen Australia’s economic recovery outperform every major ­advanced economy in the world.

We have recovered faster and stronger than the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

We have avoided the long term high unemployment rates Australia experienced in past recessions.

With 377,000 more Australians in work today than before the pandemic began, the unemployment rate has fallen to 4 per cent, the equal lowest in 48 years.

There are now nearly 2 million more Australians in work compared to when Labor left office.

Unemployment, underemployment, female unemployment, youth unemployment and welfare dependency are all lower today under the Coalition than under Labor.

This is not luck.

We took more than 1000 individual decisions during Covid, saving lives and livelihoods.

JobKeeper saved more than 700,000 jobs.

The Cashflow Boost gave small businesses working capital when they needed it most.

HomeBuilder kept tradies on the tools.

Our work with the banks saw ­repayments on $250 billion of loans paused.

Lower taxes for more than 11 million Australians and 3.6 million small businesses allowed people to keep more of what they earned.

Record incentives for businesses to invest in machinery and equipment supported businesses that backed themselves and new investments in skills have seen a record 220,000 Australians now in a trade apprenticeship.

Australia literally avoided the economic abyss.

And now, with one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, one of the lowest mortality rates in the world and strongest economic recoveries in the world, our country is well placed for the challenges ahead.

It is the result of an economic plan that is working.

But we recognise there is more to do.

We are now committing to create 1.3 million more jobs over the next five years.

This is an ambitious target that builds on our track record to date.

Investing $3.7 billion to support 800,000 new training positions; $2.8 billion to train the next generation of apprentices while implementing new programs for disadvantaged and disengaged younger Australians to overcome obstacles to work.

Boosting female workforce participation by enhancing paid parental leave by creating a fully flexible 20-week program while making a record investment of over $10 billion a year in childcare.

Backing small business with 120 per cent tax deduction to upskill their employees and purchase new digital technologies, helping them grow, hire and innovate.

Expanding our record 10-year infrastructure pipeline to $120 billion, building on major new initiatives like the Western Sydney Airport already underway.

In the Budget, there was $3.6 billion in new funding for NSW infrastructure projects like Sydney to Newcastle faster rail.

The Morrison government is also transforming our manufacturing sector, partnering with the private sector to help our manufacturers scale up, collaborate and commercialise.

To create thousands of new jobs and build more resilient supply chains, we have identified areas of comparative advantage and strategic importance.

Medical products, recycling and clean energy, critical minerals, defence, space and food are all priorities.

Three years ago we said to the Australian people we would grow our economy. We delivered.

We said more people would be in work. We delivered.

We said we would lower taxes. We delivered.

We said essential services would be guaranteed. We delivered.

We said we would invest more in national security. We delivered.

Our economic plan is working.

This is not the time to change course.

This is not the time to put all that Australia has achieved over the last three years at risk.

Josh Frydenberg is the Federal Treasurer. This op ed first appeared in The Daily Telegraph and has been republished here with the author’s permission.