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Sydney Morning Herald
11 hours ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
More young Australians working multiple jobs to survive
A record number of young Australians are working more than one part-time job to make ends meet as signs emerge the overall jobs market is starting to soften under the weight of the Reserve Bank's efforts to bring down inflation. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the number of people with multiple jobs eased through the first three months of this year, while the proportion of workers getting more than one pay cheque has dropped to a three-year low. The number of Australians with more than one job soared in the wake of COVID pandemic. Between the end of 2019 and December last year, an extra 220,000 people took on at least one additional job, a near-29 per cent increase. The end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy program, a shortage of workers for many industries, and the surge in inflation, combined to encourage people to take on a sideline job to supplement their income. The ABS figures revealed that after peaking at 990,000 at the end of the last year, the number of multiple-job holders eased to 963,000. Almost all of that decline was due to people with a full-time job leaving a part-time gig. But among those in part-time work, the number taking on an extra part-time job lifted. There are now a record 490,200 people with at least two part-time jobs, a 6 per cent increase over the past 12 months. Those part-time jobs are being held down by women at record levels and by people under the age of 24. In 1996, 18.2 per cent of people with multiple jobs were those aged under 24. That proportion has now climbed to 21.8 per cent, while the share of middle-aged Australians with more than one job has eased.
The Age
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Age
More young Australians working multiple jobs to survive
A record number of young Australians are working more than one part-time job to make ends meet as signs emerge the overall jobs market is starting to soften under the weight of the Reserve Bank's efforts to bring down inflation. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the number of people with multiple jobs eased through the first three months of this year, while the proportion of workers getting more than one pay cheque has dropped to a three-year low. The number of Australians with more than one job soared in the wake of COVID pandemic. Between the end of 2019 and December last year, an extra 220,000 people took on at least one additional job, a near-29 per cent increase. The end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy program, a shortage of workers for many industries, and the surge in inflation, combined to encourage people to take on a sideline job to supplement their income. The ABS figures revealed that after peaking at 990,000 at the end of the last year, the number of multiple-job holders eased to 963,000. Almost all of that decline was due to people with a full-time job leaving a part-time gig. But among those in part-time work, the number taking on an extra part-time job lifted. There are now a record 490,200 people with at least two part-time jobs, a 6 per cent increase over the past 12 months. Those part-time jobs are being held down by women at record levels and by people under the age of 24. In 1996, 18.2 per cent of people with multiple jobs were those aged under 24. That proportion has now climbed to 21.8 per cent, while the share of middle-aged Australians with more than one job has eased.
The Australian
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Australian
Election 2025: $250bn GDP forgone on weaker growth
Federal government tax revenues would be $50bn higher each year and Australia's annual GDP more than $250bn larger if Labor had met its assumed productivity rate of 1.2 per cent a year, the Coalition has claimed, promising its own higher target will deliver $275bn higher economic growth than Labor's if elected. Labor adopted a lower long-term productivity growth assumption of 1.2 per cent in its 2022 federal budget, reflecting structurally weaker productivity growth across time. Productivity has been dismal on a trend basis, resulting in the nation's annual GDP being $250bn lower than what it would have been if it had met 1.2 per cent productivity growth. Measured as GDP per hour worked, the 10-year average annualised growth is just 0.2 per cent – the weakest in at least 35 years. The Coalition has promised a new target of 1.5 per cent, which on its estimates would mean about $25bn in annual economic growth over and above the 1.2 per cent growth rate. That also would boost federal government revenue by another $6bn a year. Opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor has promised the 1.5 per cent target, saying he is committed to 'pursuing a rigorous productivity and investment enhancing reform agenda' if elected. 'Productivity fuels our economic potential, yet under the Albanese Labor government it has collapsed,' he said. A spokesman for Jim Chalmers said the government had 'a big agenda to boost productivity but we recognise that it will take more than one term to turn it around'. 'The decade to 2020 under the Coalition was the worst for productivity growth in 60 years,' Dr Chalmers' spokesman said. 'Our productivity agenda includes revitalising national competition policy including our $900m National Productivity Fund, streamlining and strengthening our merger and foreign investment regimes, investing in the NBN and delivering record funding for skills and education.' Most economists, including those at the Reserve Bank, blame the government sector for the weak growth. RBA head of economic analysis Mick Plumb noted in February that the 'level of measured productivity in some parts of the non-market sector is low relative to the aggregate economy'. Some economists such as Deutsche Bank's Phil O'Donaghoe said productivity might suddenly turn around in Australia regardless of who took office. Mr O'Donaghoe said while government sector productivity was very low, it only partly explained the decline in Australia's overall productivity. 'Australia's Covid-era employment protection scheme – JobKeeper – has also played an overlooked and underappreciated role,' Mr O'Donaghoe said. 'To the extent that productivity is lagging because JobKeeper has reshaped Australia's post-Covid labour market, we would expect the pre-Covid relationship between productivity and commodity prices to reassert itself over 2025.' He said JobKeeper meant a large number of workers remained 'employed' during this period but contributed little – that is, output per worker was much weaker. 'As disruptions from Covid continue to fade, we expect the pre-Covid relationship to reassert itself over 2025.' Part of the government sector productivity slide might be attributable to the difficulty in measuring the output of workers in areas such as the National Disability Insurance Agency, Mr O'Donaghoe said. 'Productivity is always easier to measure in a manufacturing economy than it is in an economy (with) a lot of non-market based jobs such as the NDIS.' Economist such as EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy said despite the strong levels of government investment, productivity in the government sector had fallen. 'Non-market labour productivity is down by 0.3 per cent since December 2019, compared to productivity growth of 4 per cent in the private sector,' Ms Murphy said. Politics The nation's leading suicide prevention body has accused Anthony Albanese of breaking a promise to prioritise the soaring rate of Australians taking their own lives. Politics The NT will introduce the nation's toughest bail laws after a teen on release for violent offences – including rape – was charged with murdering an elderly man in Darwin.
Epoch Times
23-04-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Dutton Pledges $21 Billion Defence Boost to Protect Against Future Threats
Coalition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged a $21 billion increase in military funding, vowing to dramatically lift Australia's defence spending if the Coalition wins the May 3 federal election. The opposition leader said the spending is essential to prepare for growing global instability, warning that Australia faces the most uncertain security environment since World War II. Under the Coalition's plan, defence funding would rise from 2 percent to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next five years. By 2035, that figure would climb to 3 percent of GDP, well beyond Labor's 2.4 percent target by 2034. Speaking in Perth, Dutton said the proposed boost would ensure Australia can meet future threats with strength and resolve. 'We need to make sure that whatever confronts us over the coming decades, we can stare it down,' he said. Funding Plan: Axe Labor's Tax Cuts To pay for the additional defence spending, Dutton said the Coalition would scrap Labor's recurring expenses, including stage-three tax cuts, which he described as fiscally irresponsible. Related Stories 4/17/2025 4/16/2025 'We're not going ahead with that 70 cents-a-day tax cut, which comes to about $7 billion a year,' he said. 'Labor's locking in $28 billion over the forward estimates. Our plan reallocates that toward defence.' He argued that Labor's tax policy will bake in an ongoing $7 billion annual cost, while the Coalition's plan is targeted, temporary, and focused on strategic priorities. Dutton said the Coalition would take a responsible budgeting approach, drawing lessons from COVID-era economic management. 'During COVID, we provided JobKeeper, JobSeeker, and other measures to keep businesses alive. But we didn't bake in that spending. It was temporary, just like this will be,' he said. He said the announcement was timed late in the campaign to assess the budget and commit responsibly to defence spending. Dangerous Decade Ahead Dutton said intelligence briefings he received while serving as defence minister shaped his view that the coming decade could bring serious conflict in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. 'This is not the time to risk a Labor-Greens government,' he said. He said that increasing military capability would not only safeguard the nation but also support long-term growth in Australia's defence industry. Asked directly if communist China was driving the proposed funding increase, Dutton said, 'The Chinese Communist Party is a very different China. It has ambitions regarding Taiwan. A naval blockade is not out of the question, and our defence experts are warning about that.' He also pointed to rising tensions in Europe, saying Russia's invasion of Ukraine had raised fears that further aggression could target NATO members. 'Political Theatre': Labor The Albanese government dismissed the announcement as 'political theatre' lacking detail or credible costings. 'There's no explanation of how the money is being raised, there's no explanation of where it's being spent,' Defence Minister Richard Marles said. 'Throwing a big number into the debate without a plan—that's not a defence strategy.' Marles said Labor's current trajectory is already lifting defence investment to 2.4 percent of GDP over the decade, arguing that the government's approach is both fiscally responsible and grounded in long-term planning. Retention Tied to Purpose, Not Just Pay However, Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie accused Labor of weakening Australia's military capability through delays and cuts worth $80 billion. 'They've cut the infantry fighting vehicle program, two supply ships, and a fourth squadron of F-35s,' he said. 'They are busy cutting and weakening this country.' Hastie said the Coalition's target of 3 percent of GDP in defence spending over the next decade reflected the seriousness of the global threat landscape. Labor, he noted, had revised its own figure down to 2.3 percent. He warned that military recruitment and retention are in crisis, citing figures showing that nearly 90 percent of applications last year were withdrawn before completion. Staffing shortfalls are causing Australia's Navy to go 'backwards,' he said. Asked how the Coalition would address recruitment and retention, Dutton said salary reviews were possible—but the real key was restoring a sense of mission. 'People join defence to serve. They don't want to be stuck on projects that are going nowhere,' he said, blaming Labor for stripping funds from critical initiatives. 'We want to reinvest in those programs to support our defence families and give people reasons to stay. That's how you keep skilled personnel in uniform.'
The Guardian
24-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Chalmers upbeat on eve of budget despite grim debt outlook and jitters over Australia's ‘fiscal firepower'
Australia's debt burden will continue to grow in this financial year, Treasury has confirmed, even as Jim Chalmers claimed credit for the country's much stronger fiscal position than was predicted leading into the last election. On the eve of Labor's fourth budget, the latest official estimates show gross debt – or the outstanding face value of commonwealth government bonds – will climb from $906.9bn in 2023-24 to $940bn in 2024-25. The updated figure for this financial year, to be revealed in Tuesday's budget papers, matches the forecast in December's mid-year update. They will show the national debt pile will have grown by about $45bn under the Albanese government's first term, from $895.2bn in mid-2022. After Anthony Albanese on Sunday announced $1.8bn for another $150 in energy bill relief for households and small businesses, Tuesday's budget will also show Labor's back-to-back surpluses giving way to a decade of deficits. Chalmers at the weekend said 'it remains to be seen' when the budget returns to the black and the grim outlook suggests debt will continue to grow over coming years as governments borrow to plug the gap between spending and revenue. Despite the upward debt trajectory since Labor took office in May 2022, Chalmers highlighted how the pre-election fiscal outlook in 2022 predicted gross debt would have blown out to $1.1tn by mid-2025 – or $177bn more than the budget will forecast on Tuesday. The better-than-anticipated outcome is the result of Treasury officials in 2022 massively underestimating the strength of the post-lockdown economic recovery and failing to factor in booming commodity prices. The Albanese government then chose not to spend the vast majority of these windfall revenue gains. Unveiling the latest debt forecast, Chalmers said 'in less than three years, we've turned two big Liberal deficits into two Labor surpluses, shrunk this year's deficit, and reduced Liberal party debt by $177bn'. 'Together we've shown you can make progress on inflation without sacrificing jobs, which is remarkable compared to what we've seen around the world. Inflation is down, real wages and living standards are growing again, unemployment is low, debt is down, interest rates have been cut and growth is rebounding solidly,' the treasurer said. 'We've made a lot of progress together, the budget is in much better nick now than when we inherited it, but there's more work to do.' Borrowing under the Albanese government pales in comparison with the big-spending final term of the former prime minister Scott Morrison. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The previous Coalition government borrowed $350bn in the three years to 2022 to pay for the huge Covid-era support programs. This included the $89bn JobKeeper program – one of the largest fiscal interventions in Australian history. Australia's debt has grown substantially since the turn of the century, rising from the equivalent of 9% of GDP in mid-2001, or $66bn, to reach 34% of GDP as at June 2024. While the trajectory of Australia's debt broadly reflects deteriorating fiscal health, we owe substantially less than most other advanced economies. The OECD says total debt as a share of the combined output of its 38 member countries was 84% in 2024, according to recent research from the Paris-based body. Still, experts remain worried that future governments will lack the 'fiscal firepower' to respond to future threats that require a big lift in spending, such as seen during the GFC and pandemic. 'This comes at a time when growing geopolitical uncertainty, increasing trade tensions, more frequent weather events and ongoing technological change may mean shocks are more frequent,' the head of business and industry economics at Westpac, Sian Fenner, said.
