Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution to Senator McAllister's private member's Productivity Commission Amendment (Addressing Inequality) Bill 2017. Inequality is rife in Australia. On this first occasion following the Christmas break, we have to talk about that very expensive and very colourful shirt the Prime Minister wore to a Christmas event in Sydney. The Prime Minister, lit up like a Christmas tree, showed up in a shirt that cost over $700 to feed the most marginalised and most disadvantaged. I think we're going to struggle to find an image in the course of 2018 that shows more powerfully how completely and totally out of touch with the Australian people this Prime Minister is. And it's not just the Prime Minister; the entire party that he represents is in a permanent mismatch between the lived experience of ordinary Australians who are struggling under the burden of increasing inequality and themselves, which is a hallmark of this government. Private members' bill debates, let's face it, in the Senate, do not always attract a great deal of attention. But this bill is actually a very important piece of legislation that, if enacted, has the potential to readdress a very significant flaw in the way in which the Productivity Commission looks at the plight of Australians, and that's why I applaud it.

Senator McAllister's bill would require the Productivity Commission to take inequality into account in the exercise of its functions. It is very important that it does, given the nature of our current society. The reality is, at the moment, it's impossible for it to do that because it is simply not enabled by the current legislative frame. The bill would also require the commission to undertake work to regularly report on the extent of inequality in Australia and its effects on the Australian economy and community. I want to endorse and echo all of the sentiments that were expressed by Senator Bilyk, in particular, her comments around the bifurcation that exists with those who are running businesses getting an advantage from driving wages down and increasing inequality. We know Henry Ford a long, long time ago doubled the wages of his employees so that they would have sufficient disposable income to be able to go out, save, and envision that they might too buy a model T Ford and that's exactly what happened. The reality is people have been cut to the bone in the amount of money they have at their disposal to purchase in their local community.

As a senator who lives on the Central Coast, who is happy to represent the whole of New South Wales, I will speak to the reality of families I met over the Christmas break on the Central Coast who were talking about how difficult it is to get their kids in uniform and back to school because they are so stretched. Energy costs, under the government of the Liberal Party at both federal and state level, have left New South Wales residents in a terrible state. The financial burden of those costs is making it very, very difficult for them to even get their kids off to a good start at the beginning of school—and I hope that I'll have sufficient time to make some remarks about the terrible cuts to school funding that are entrenching inequality into the future. But let me be clear: this issue of inequality should be at the forefront of economic debate, because inequality absolutely adversely affects economic growth and the quality of life of all Australians.

Senator McAllister's bill embodies core Labor values and reflects what would be the priorities of a Shorten Labor government—to deal with the reality that confronts ordinary, hardworking Australians, not the privileged few who have friends in the top end of town and can afford shirts that are worth $700. It is the Australian Labor Party that is committed to tackling the most significant social, moral and economic problems of our time, and inequality is right at the heart of a core problem for this nation.

Australians, perhaps in the course of this year, or certainly in the year following, will have a clear choice: a Labor Party that understands and accepts—and is willing to make policy to address—the growing gap between the rich and the poor in this country, a Labor Party that's committed to closing the gap, a Labor Party that contrasts with an out-of-touch Liberal government that doesn't see the inequality that it is itself creating and doesn't see inequality as an issue at all. We need a party that is committed to helping all Australians, not just the top end of town to the exclusion of all others.

Just last week, both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, delivered speeches that set the scene and revealed their priorities. The contrast between the two could not have been any clearer. Not once in his major address last week did the Prime Minister mention the word 'inequality'—not once. He doesn't see it. He doesn't get it. This is despite the fact that inequality on his watch is rising to levels that we have not seen in around 75 years. The Prime Minister didn't mention cost of living either, and only once in his entire speech did he discuss wages. This is despite the reality that Australia's record low wage growth is now at around two per cent and despite the latest cost-of-living figures showing that the cost of essential items is crushing Australian families.

I mentioned electricity, for example. The latest figures from the ABS tell us that electricity costs grew around six times more than wages. No wonder people on the coast and across the great state of New South Wales are feeling the pinch in their pocket, while the Liberal Party continues as if nothing is going wrong. This means that Australians are struggling to keep the lights on. Instead of recognising this reality, the Prime Minister stated that he will 'continue to put downward pressure on energy prices'. If he's going to continue what he is doing, he should at least be honest about what he is doing, which is putting upward pressure on prices. A failure of policy in this area is impacting every hardworking Australian. Take fuel, for another example. Fuel costs grew more than five times the growth in wages, and that means Australians are struggling to pay for petrol for their cars. The situation is not much better for health and education. The cost of hospital services and secondary education grew by more than double wages. Australians are struggling to pay for necessary health treatments and to send their children to school.

I visited rural New South Wales last year, where families in Cobar were speaking about the extraordinary cost of putting petrol in their cars to get to the health services that they need to access. As a senator for Western Australia, Mr Acting Deputy President Sterle, you know more than many this reality for people in regional Australia. The cost of health in the city is already a very big barrier for people, who are trying to get to a doctor just down the road, where they might be able to get public transport. Add to that, in the regions and the remote parts of Australia, the additional cost of putting petrol in your car—a cost that's risen at five times the rate of wage growth—and we've got a burden that's growing in an extraordinary way in the parts of this country that are supposed to be represented by the National Party, who are meek and mild here in the parliament and do not stand up for the people whose voice they claim they have. They do not fight for fairness for those from the regions.

Instead of discussing the struggles of everyday Australians of this kind, the Prime Minister's speech was focused on spruiking his $65 billion handout to multinationals and big business—$65 billion—while he's cutting funding from health and education and watching on and doing nothing about a failure of wage growth that's impacting every family pay packet that will be going home this week.

In 2018, the Turnbull government has learnt nothing. They're still fighting to protect that well-worn trickle-down economic agenda that they have so wedded themselves to. Policymakers worldwide know it's not working. Giving money to those who have the most and waiting for it to trickle down to the poor is a lovely notion that's been totally discounted by all economists worth their salt. Yet this government and a Prime Minister wearing that shirt on Christmas Day, insulting the group of people whom he was meeting that day, are completely out of touch with what's going on.

In contrast, Bill Shorten was focused on inequality, and Labor promises to deliver better wages for working Australians. This is because Labor's listening. Labor's heard time and time again from hardworking Australian men and women that they're struggling with record low wage growth and rising cost-of-living pressures.

Just yesterday, with regard to private health insurance, Labor made a very, very important announcement that we will cap the premium increases at two per cent in the first two years and also task the Productivity Commission with the biggest review of the industry in 20 years to improve the quality, value and affordability of private health insurance. It might not mean much to someone who can afford a $700 shirt, but most Australians are not getting the value from putting our money into private health insurance that they once were. Labor understands this, and that's why we want to take some of the pressure off families.

The reality is that, under Prime Ministers Abbott and Turnbull, average premiums have risen by 27 per cent while we've got the lowest wage growth in 75 years. So, families now, under this Liberal government who says they're looking after ordinary working Australians, are paying over $1,000 a year more than when the Liberals were elected—$1,000. That's a lot of money in any person's language. But, for the people in the seat of Robertson where I live, $1,000, I know, is a life-changing amount of money that I'd rather see in their pockets than in private health insurance.

According to Oxfam last year, Australia's 33 billionaires increased their wealth by $38 billion while the growth in wages for hardworking Australians hit record lows. And this is what we've seen under the Abbott-Turnbull government: time and time again, millionaires, billionaires and multinationals continue to increase their wealth and their profits while the ordinary hardworking Australian misses out.

Australian men and women are struggling to make a decent living. They're tired of the anxiety that's associated with insecure work and the rise of casualisation, and more so than ever. This is certainly not their fault. Australia has been described internationally—and we still hold onto this view of ourselves—as the land of opportunity, but fighting for equality of opportunity and social mobility is a fight that must continue every day, and it's certainly a fight that Labor is willing to take up to this government on their watch.

Research by the McKell Institute tells us that where you live is more likely than ever to determine your income. I grew up in an Australia where it was about how much passion you had to get out and use your talents and abilities that was going to give you opportunities. It used to be that you could get an education at any school across this country and you had a chance. But not under this government. Access to health services and education services and opportunities are dividing us like they have never divided us before. The rich are getting richer and richer by the day; those who are at the edge are being forced and forced and forced downwards.

Location—not your level of education—playing a large role in determining your income is not the sort of Australia that I want to be a part of. Under the Turnbull government's watch, there is no longer an opportunity for people to make their way out of difficult situations. There have been $65 million tax cuts for multinationals, billionaires and the banks. We know that there was a $16,400 a year tax cut given to millionaires. Instead of helping Australian men and women gain secure work, earn a decent wage and retire with dignity—as well as being able to afford a house and get a world-class education—the Liberals have decided to do what they can to help those who are doing just fine.

They're cutting funding from education, creating barriers to our world-class education system. Almost 10,000 students this year will miss out on a place in Australian universities because the Turnbull government has cut $2.2 billion from that sector. Our best and brightest, who need an opportunity for a proper education, have been cut away from that opportunity—further increasing the inequality that seems to be the passion of this government.

Under the Turnbull government, there are now 730,000 Australians unemployed, and, of concern, there are almost 1.1 million unemployed Australians who are looking for work and unable to find it—1.1 million of our fellow Australians, and the Turnbull government think they're doing a good job. They celebrate the unemployment figures, ignoring these nearly two million Australians. For our young people, the situation is even worse, with the proportion of young men and women working full-time continuing to fall in a stubbornly downward trend. That's since the GFC. Importantly, nearly one in five young people in the labour force want to work more but cannot. Again, that is something this government is ignoring.

The under-utilisation of our labour market is bad for the economy. Our economy will not be as productive as it could be unless people are spending, saving or investing. Beyond this, insecure work can cause, or be caused by, mental illness and mental ill-health; beyond earning an income, work is a source of social interaction and a way to gain a sense of purpose. This is particularly so for young people, and insecure work and unemployment—which we know is the hallmark of the world in which they are seeking work—can have a devastating long-term consequence on their education, on their employment, on their physical and mental health and on their capacity to contribute over a lifetime to the great nation we call Australia. Beyond not recognising the issue of insecure work, again, the Turnbull government fails to mention these sorts of issues in any of their speeches. Certainly, it was absent from the Prime Minister's speech last week. Australians need, want and deserve better wages, but the Turnbull government is doing nothing about that.

I want to, particularly, put on the record my concern about this absence of policymaking for middle Australia. We really shouldn't be surprised, because it does reflect the ethos of a Liberal Party to govern for the top end of town. They always talk about how close they are to business, but decent businesses—small businesses that are employing people on the ground—are paying good value for good workers. Sadly, they're not getting the support of this government.

I want to put on the record in the short time that remains to me that it's not just this federal Liberal government that has this attitude; Liberal governments across the country are embodying this same sort of out-of-touch approach to governing by no longer rewarding hard work with decent wages and by continuing to choose big business and the top end of town over middle Australia. Take, for example, the New South Wales Liberal government and their transparent desire to short-change 9,000 Sydney and New South Wales trains employees. These are dedicated workers who are seeking basic working conditions and fairer wages to simply support themselves and their families. For more than six months, the Liberal government—the sister to this government here in the federal parliament—have failed to make a fair and reasonable offer that the workers there can accept. When the New South Wales Liberal government have openly said they look forward to the day when their transport system is driverless, it is easy to see they have no respect for their workforce. It's been left to the Rail, Tram and Bus Union to fight to ensure that the men and women that they represent are not left behind and have the capacity to earn a decent wage under fair working conditions.

It's also an opportunity for me to put on the record that, as a Labor senator, I stand in solidarity with those workers, who, since having their whole workforce decimated by the Liberal government in New South Wales to the point where a new timetable has come in, are now being forced to work 13-hour shifts for 13 days in a row. They are trying to stand up for the New South Wales residents who use that transport system. There are issues of safety. Do you really want someone driving a train in the 13th hour of their 13th consecutive day? That's what New South Wales has been reduced to because of the cost cutting of the Liberals: essential services put at risk because of a lack of understanding of the need to deliver equality for all workers and for all Australians.

In closing, can I say it's left to the Labor Party and unions across Australia to deliver for those most in need in middle Australia, and it's exemplified today by Senator McAllister's bill.