Deputy Opposition leader blasts Albanese government for ‘dropping the ball' on productivity and living standards, ahead of economic summit

Sky News AU

a day ago

Deputy Opposition Leader Ted O'Brien has slammed the Albanese government's economic management in the lead-up to a major roundtable meeting, accusing it of reckless spending, collapsing productivity, and causing a dramatic fall in Australians' living standards.
The high-level summit, set to take place next week, is intended to address the nation's stagnating productivity and mounting cost-of-living pressures. But Mr O'Brien says the government has already failed on both fronts.
'You don't improve people's living standards, you don't improve productivity by raising taxes. That's my key message to the Prime Minister and Jim Chalmers,' Mr O'Brien said.
He took direct aim at the ongoing public disconnect between Anthony Albanese and Treasurer over the summit's purpose, raising questions about whether the government itself even agrees on its direction.
'Now everybody knows that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer are arguing at the moment on what the summit is all about, so we will have to see next week who wins that argument, but if we're trying to grow that economic pie, then the government needs their big spending spree,' he said.
According to Mr O'Brien, Australia's economic performance has sharply deteriorated under Labor, driven by relentless growth in the size of government spending that far exceeds what was initially budgeted.
'What we've seen in the economy is the non-market sector. In other words, it's big government, and that government keeps spending,' he said.
'So to give you an idea of how much, this year alone, the government will spend $160 billion more than the budget was when they inherited the government three years ago.
'So, they are just pouring more and more money into the economy. Inflation has gone up, and now that it's coming down, there's no productivity. So productivity has gone backwards by five per cent under their watch.'
He added that the erosion of productivity had real consequences for households across the country.
'Living standards are getting worse, and that's why many Australians are feeling poorer because they are poorer. This is the problem.'
Mr O'Brien also pointed to Australia's slumping global competitiveness rankings as evidence that the government has lost its economic grip.
'It's a tough challenge but when you see how Australia performs compared to other countries, under the Albanese government we've seen an enormous drop and this is why our competitiveness as a country has gone from 13th in the world to 18th,' he said.
'Our living standards have dropped more than anyone. Why? Because the Albanese government has dropped the ball. They cannot stop their spending spree, and they can't start growing the economic pie.'
With interest rates remaining stubbornly high, Mr O'Brien said mortgage holders are still struggling, despite the latest minor cut.
'Interest rates have been higher for a long time in Australia, longer than a lot of other countries, and that's because of our spending spree,' he said.
'Now mortgage holders did get some relief – 25 bases points. Now what that means is that the average mortgage holder will now pay $1,800 more a month on their interest payments than they were paying before the Albanese government came to power.
'Before yesterday, they were paying $1900, so the government only knocked off $100, so, we're still worse off.'
The Deputy Opposition leader confirmed he will attend the roundtable in a listening capacity but made it clear that the Coalition's approach would be a sharp contrast to Labor's.
'At the roundtable next week, just like what the Treasurer does on behalf of the government, I'll be doing on behalf of the Opposition - I'll listen to the ideas that are brought forward,' he said.
'The only idea that I know that the Treasurer has put on the table is to tax the unreleased capital gains in superfunds. My advice to him, is not to tax superfunds,' he said.
'You cannot raise taxes to boost productivity in this country, you cannot increase the cost if you wish to do business in this country and boost productivity, and you cannot raise the burden on future generations through increasing debt.
'Next week I want to make sure that's all avoided.'