Anthony Albanese will go down in history as Australia’s worst Labor Prime Minister when it comes to the economy.
That’s not an exaggeration, nor is it a matter of taking down whoever is in power to make headlines.
While inflation has declined on his watch – and in the rest of the world – he is the only post-war Labor leader who lacks a sense of purpose and leaves no lasting legacy that will benefit future generations of Australians.
His plan to double taxes to 30 percent on pension balances over $3 million is nothing more than a revenue grab.
Labour’s Future Made in Australia is little more than a very expensive subsidy scheme disguised as concern about climate change.
Clumsy attempts to regulate social media companies only demonstrate the stupidity of his government interfering with freedom of speech without making the country safer – just to look busy.
And record high immigration levels of more than 500,000 a year, during a rental and affordability crisis, prove he is leading a government addicted to income tax revenue from bringing in more skilled migrants.
He has shown no desire to reform the tax system to solve this structural economic problem that prevents middle and middle income earners from purchasing a home and having sufficient savings.
Anthony Albanese will go down in history as Australia’s worst Labor Prime Minister when it comes to the economy
Although inflation has declined on his watch, he is – like the rest of the world – the only post-war Labor leader who lacks a sense of purpose and does not leave a lasting legacy that will benefit future generations of Australians (pictured is a student on the Gold Coast)
Other than the government buying a 40 per cent stake in a new home with first home buyers under Labour’s new Help To Buy program – which would only drive up prices further and waste even more taxpayers’ money without addressing the root causes of unaffordable housing to take .
Unlike other Labor prime ministers, Albanians’ first – and perhaps only – three years in power would not have brought about any structural change in the economy that would improve living standards.
That’s a shame, because Australians traditionally elect Labor governments to change things for the better, to the benefit of working-class voters – even if the Coalition wins more elections.
The contrast with Labor leaders since the end of the Second World War is stark.
Ben Chifley, a former train driver from Bathurst, was the last Labor Prime Minister to win the Yes vote in a referendum.
His 1946 campaign to give the Commonwealth the power to introduce welfare schemes meant that the federal government, rather than the states, would provide unemployment benefits in the future.
The idea of amending the Constitution received national support of 54 percent and was supported in every state. This means that people out of work would receive the same level of assistance wherever they lived, and public resources would be distributed more efficiently.
Among Albanians, the Voice referendum to create a race-based, constitutionally anchored body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives in 2023 received less than 40 percent support.
Ben Chifley, a former train driver from Bathurst, was the last Labor Prime Minister to win the Yes vote in a referendum and successfully campaigned for the Commonwealth to provide unemployment benefits
It was defeated in every state and territory except the Australian Capital Territory, and since then there has been no Labor solution to tackle Indigenous domestic violence, premature deaths and dependency on welfare.
Gough Whitlam may have presided over 17.7 percent inflation and presided over a government embroiled in a scheme to borrow billions of dollars through a dodgy Pakistani commodities trader, Tirath Khemlani.
But his government’s 25 percent cut in import tariffs in 1973 was an idea that was embraced by both sides of politics decades later, leading to cheaper consumer goods for all Australians in the years that followed.
His creation of Medibank in 1975, although abolished by his Liberal successor Malcolm Fraser, was revived as Medicare, with both major parties now supporting universal healthcare so that everyone can afford to go to the doctor.
Not to mention that Gough officially scrapped the White Australia policy and introduced no-fault divorce before being controversially sacked in November 1975.
Bob Hawke introduced Medicare and sex discrimination laws in 1984 during his first term, and also introduced the Australian dollar in 1983, eliminating the need for the government to intervene in foreign exchange markets on a daily basis.
In the first three years of his successor Paul Keating in power, the Reserve Bank of Australia was given the independence to set interest rates without political interference.
Since that 1993 decision, Australia has never had double-digit inflation coinciding with double-digit unemployment, leading to an ugly situation known as stagflation.
Gough Whitlam’s government has cut import tariffs and introduced universal healthcare (he is pictured left with singer Patricia Amphlett, also known as ‘Little Pattie’)
Bob Hawke (right with wife Hazel) introduced Medicare and sex discrimination laws and also launched the Australian dollar, while his successor Paul Keating (left) gave the Reserve Bank independence and introduced corporate bargaining
While unemployment was high during Keating’s time as Prime Minister, the introduction of enterprise bargaining to replace centralized wage fixing meant that Australia would never again experience a wage-price spiral that fueled inflation.
The Albanian government hates Keating’s legacy so much that it revived multi-employer negotiations, ignoring the lessons of economic history when the militant Amalgamated Metal Workers Union took strike action in 1981.
This flowed through to the rest of the economy, with average full-time wages rising by 14 percent while inflation rose by 11 percent.
Keating also gave Australia a mandatory pension in 1992 so people could retire with dignity – something the Albanian should think about as he plunders his retirement savings in a bid to rake in $2 billion a year.
Even Albanese’s former Labor bosses, while mediocre, will leave a modest legacy.
Kevin Rudd, who ruled during the global financial crisis, at least introduced unit pricing in supermarkets in 2009 so consumers could have a better idea if they were being ripped off.
While Julia Gillard’s hated carbon tax was scrapped by the Coalition, her government at least introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2013, which, while expensive, gives dignity to many people facing physical and mental challenges.
Unlike previous Labor prime ministers, Albanians are addicted to temporary band-aid solutions designed to address political problems rather than solve long-term problems.
Even Albanians’ former Labor bosses will leave a legacy, with Julia Gillard (left) arranging National Disability Insurance, while Kevin Rudd (right) introducing unit pricing in supermarkets.
His temporary $300 electricity rebates to reduce overall inflation was a policy designed to counter Labor’s 2022 election promise to cut energy bills by $275 by 2025.
The Reserve Bank is not convinced and sees inflation rising from 2.8 percent now to 3.7 percent by the end of next year, meaning a slowdown in interest rate cuts as the consumer price index again falls outside the 2 to 3 percent target.
Albanese’s Labor predecessors looked at ways to permanently solve structural economic problems, but this prime minister cares more about short-term politics or empty symbolism.
It’s hard to imagine a policy idea from him that will make life better for Australians decades from now, whether he wins or loses the next election in May next year.