Bill Shorten to make the election a 'referendum on wages'   

Mar 5, 2019 Financial Review

Labor Leader Bill Shorten will take the economic fight to Scott Morrison on Wednesday and declare the next election to be a referendum about wages.

A day after the Prime Minister said the election would be a contest between envy and enterprise, and stoked fears of a recession under Labor, Mr Shorten will accuse him of denigrating the low paid and hit back at claims Labor's industrial relations policy would help drive an economic downturn.

Mr Shorten will tell the Financial Review Business Summit that the co-operation between government, the unions and employers which was the hallmark of the Hawke-Keating accord era fostered productivity and economic growth.

Bill Shorten: "I believe we need to renovate the system to revive negotiation and co-operation." Michael Chambers

A Labor government would not reconstitute the accords but Mr Shorten will promise the same level of co-operation to drive prosperity, not economic ruin.

"The next election will be a referendum on wages," an extract of his speech says.


"It will be a contest about who the economy should work for, whose interests the system should serve.

"I believe we need to renovate the system to revive negotiation and co-operation.

"Our wages system, our remuneration system needs to be renovated to prepare our workforce for an economy that will change as much in the next 20 years as it has in the last 100 years."

Mr Shorten is also expected to upbraid business, accusing sectors of putting naked-self interest ahead of the national interest.

Scott Morrison has ramped up his warnings of an economic downturn under a Labor government, declaring it the "truth" to tell voters of the risk of recession under the Opposition's policies.

Labor has already promised to restore weekend penalty rates, crack down on sham contracting and labour hire, and reintroduce pattern bargaining in low-paid sectors such as cleaning and childcare.   

Mr Morrison said pattern bargaining would "take us back to the dark ages of workplace relations in this country".

That, along with Labor's plans to increase the tax take by $200 billion over 10 years and its reluctance to embrace free trade agreements would create an economic downturn, possibly a recession, he contended.

Given the Coalition planned to fund its election promises without tax increases, Mr Morrison said the choice on polling day would be between envy and enterprise.
Wages is not a 'war cry of class warriors'

Mr Shorten will accuse Mr Morrison of denigrating the low paid and, in turn, exacerbating ill-feeling in the community that has been fuelled by political instability, policy chaos and "shameless self-interest".

"When leaders dismiss the aspirations of ordinary people as envy or resentment or trying to drag others down, that only makes things worse," he will say.

Mr Shorten will say that flat wages growth has resulted in people mining their savings to pay for the fundamentals.   

"Getting wages moving isn't a war cry of class warriors. It's a fundamental economic imperative," he will say.

"And fixing it is going to require us to return to what has served Australia best – co-operation."

The war of words coincides with the release on Wednesday of economic growth figures for the December quarter. Economists forecast the figures will show the economy grew by 0.4 per cent in the three months to December, and 2.6 per over 2018, below Reserve bank of Australia expectations.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen accused Mr Morrison of reckless talk.

"It is highly irresponsible for any Prime Minister, any Treasurer, any politician to talk down the economy like Scott Morrison has talked it down today," he said.
'We relish the economic debate'

"We'll have an economic debate, we relish the economic debate. We can't wait for an election based on the economic policies of the two sides, but we will turn up to that debate with policies. Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg turn up with scare, with fear and with irresponsible statements."   

what about US   the people who do not get wages?

we get left behind further..

wages got up  so does everything consumers buy and that includes...people not on wages..

I think its called trickle down..

cods wrote on Mar 6^th, 2019 at 7:28am:

Trickle down is a lie. You should know that by now.

Captain Nemo wrote on Mar 6^th, 2019 at 7:46am:

The Neanderthals around here don't get any of that. Wages won't move in any sustainable way unless productivity returns. No amount of hyperventilating by Super Sally or Silly Billy will prove otherwise.

Governments have a role. They can release policies that foster rather than supress productivity.

crocodile wrote on Mar 6^th, 2019 at 8:37am:

That is quite blatant handwaving. It doesn't matter what you call it - horse and sparrow theory, supply side economics - the theory is the same. By any name, it is a lie.

Captain Nemo wrote on Mar 6^th, 2019 at 7:46am:

No. It is not. The opposite of "trickle down economics" is adequate regulation of businesses, high taxes on the rich, real full employment and a prosperous middle class. This was the prevailing economic climate of the 1950s and 1960s.

Bam wrote on Mar 6^th, 2019 at 10:13am:


State control you mean?

Sounds like communism to me. 

Bam wrote on Mar 6^th, 2019 at 10:09am:

Horseshit. Find me one decent economic textbook or peer reviewed paper that even pays the slightest attention to these comedic words. Just one will do.