It was planned and coordinated, but this week’s jobs and skills summit could prove pivotal to the Albanese government’s first term economic and political agenda | CroweDM swrighteconomy
The elite envoys to this week’s jobs summit arrived in Parliament House knowing that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needed a consensus and that they were the chosen 142 who could help him get one. With corporate chiefs and union bosses mingling in the building’s marble foyer, the question hanging over them was whether anyone would break ranks.
Albanese used the moment to call people over for private conversations that included leaders from unions, companies, industry groups and community organisations. The talks were blunt, say some of those in the huddles, but nobody can be sure if they will shape a genuine reform agenda for Labor now it has passed its first 100 days in power.
Her point: the participation of women in the economy has been treated for many years as a gender equity challenge but is now being addressed as an economic imperative. The summit highlighted this change not only with its agenda but with the people on the podium. Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox remembered that in 2016 he had addressed a COAG meeting of premiers and then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to warn of the then looming skills shortage.
Duncan said while other countries such as Canada were fighting hard to bring in skilled migrants, Australia was dragging its feet. Wood channelled John Howard as she targeted the lack of competition across the Australian business sector, saying it was contributing to an economy was “increasingly older, fatter, and slower”.
Nationals leader David Littleproud did sit through the summit. On its second day, he offered policy ideas around HELP-free university placements for nurses and pharmacists who after university headed to a regional area to work.James Brickwood
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The 30 hours of power that will shape wages for the Albanese ageIt was planned and coordinated, but this week’s jobs and skills summit could prove pivotal to the Albanese government’s first term economic and political agenda
Read more »
What happened in the Russia-Ukraine war this week? Catch up with the must-read news and analysisUkraine launches long-awaited counteroffensive in south; UN team leads mission to nuclear power plant; Mikhail Gorbachev dies aged 91
Read more »
Aged care calls for workforce boost after rise in migration intakeAged care peak bodies say the new increase to the annual cap on skilled migration should lead to more measures to directly fill an estimated 60,000 vacancies in Australia's aged care sector.
Read more »
Summit an insight into Albanese’s operating styleOPINION: You have to go back quite a long way to find prime ministers who grasped the advantages of letting debates play out to create room for a reformist government to subsequently move.
Read more »