Opposition leader will use speech to business summit to present himself as a consensus figure with a ‘renewal’ agenda
Anthony Albanese will bemoan a lost decade of division and policy inertia under the Coalition, declaring he will take his lead, lifting productivity, boosting growth and using “cheap, renewable energy to transform our economy” if Labor wins the coming election.
The Labor leader will note Hawke managed to deliver growing wages and stronger business profits while safeguarding important social dividends – like Medicare and universal superannuation – and that reform program delivered “three decades of continuous economic growth”.
“Australia has failed to move forward at the very time when global shifts, including the rise of renewable energy, have offered us great opportunities to transform our economy, boost growth and create new jobs,” Albanese will say. Albanese will say Labor’s policy agenda to boost productivity, economic growth and jobs includes the provision of cheaper childcare to encourage greater labour market participation, investments in the transformation of Australia’s energy grid, revitalising local manufacturing, and investing in skills, faster broadband, and other productivity-enhancing infrastructure.