Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Listening to the Treasurer in recent weeks, it's become painfully obvious that this government has absolutely no economic plan and no reform agenda for the Australian economy. Instead, the Treasurer's and this government's only thought is to snap back to a pre-COVID economic model that was failing to deliver for Australian workers and Australian households.

Australians don't want to revert to an economy this government has created, and a quick look at the record will explain why. This government has presided over the most barren economic run experienced by Australian households for almost 100 years. Between 2013 and 2020, growth in real GDP per capita was the worst since the Great Depression. This government is not interested in average household or per person outcomes, which should be its main job; it just reduces headline GDP through increases in aggregate demand via population growth.

Real wages in Australia were 0.7 per cent lower in 2019 compared to 2013—a damning indictment of this government's economic management. According to the International Monetary Fund, between 2013 and 2019 Australia's GDP per person grew at just 5.4 per cent—third last among major OECD economies. Under this government, Aussie households aren't just treading water; they're being sent backwards. The simple truth is that Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg are failures as economic managers, just delivering for special interest lobby groups while crushing the wages and living standards of Australians. (Time expired)