23/06/2021
The Opposition Leader began by emphasising the urgency of the challenges facing Australia, saying we must “capitalise on the opportunities of this moment”.
“Make no mistake – we are in a race,” Mr Albanese said.
“A race to get vaccinated, a race to restore some security and normality to national life, a race to reopen international trade and revive export industries. And above and beyond all that – a race for the jobs and industries and markets and opportunities of the future.”
He highlighted the challenges that sectors such as tourism and higher education have faced during COVID-19, but said “the economic uncertainty gripping Australia goes beyond the urgent challenges posed by the pandemic”.
“The pandemic put a spotlight on a host of problems: everything from the hollowing-out of our manufacturing sector and the neglect of our skills and training system, to the perils of insecure work and the narrowness of our export base,” he said.
“It’s time to decide if we are going to tackle those problems – or entrench them.”
Reforming childcare “the most effective and most obvious step” to boost participation
Mr Albanese announced new elements of Labor’s childcare package to improve transparency in the sector by requiring large providers to publish their revenue and profit results, and by publishing real-time childcare fee data.
“We will deliver an additional $6 billion investment [in childcare], but we want to ensure this funding flows through to families,” he said.
“Parents should have more transparency around what exactly they’re paying for, so they can decide which provider is right for their family.”
Mr Albanese also spoke about Labor’s plan to “invest in Australia’s future”, highlighting initiatives to revive manufacturing through private sector partnerships, and drive innovation by offering start-up loans to students and new graduates with ventures attached to a tertiary institution or designated private accelerator.
The Opposition Leader also discussed details of Labor’s plan to lift wages introduced earlier this year, which includes writing job security into the Fair Work Act, public reporting on the gender pay gap for large companies and criminalising wage theft.
National Cabinet a “misnomer”
In response to questions, Mr Albanese said while National Cabinet had worked “in terms of bringing state and territory leaders with national leaders” it “stopped being a National Cabinet when there was a meeting when both the Premier of Victoria and NSW got together on school closures”.
“From that point on, it stopped acting as a national body. It became a forum for state premiers and chief ministers to tell each other what they were doing and the Prime Minister announced it,” he said.
“My concern is that this is the first period in decades where there has been a transfer of power to the States ahead of the Commonwealth and there has been very little commentary on that.
“The idea for example that state governments are in charge of who comes into Australia and how many is quite frankly absurd.
“I think with a bit of national leadership there could have been far more consistency. I am concerned that when you give up power and influence it is very difficult to get it back.”
Australia/China relations
The Opposition Leader also spoke about how he would manage Australia’s worsening relationship with China if he were prime minister.
“We need to recognise that China has gotten more aggressive and realise that China is responsible for changing the relationship,” he said.
“But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have an economic relationship, as governments in the past have done.
“We should always speak up for human rights and our own interests, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t adopt a position that is consistent with that of the Biden administration, who speak of ‘competition without catastrophe’ – I think that is the key.”