A better future relies on a stronger, broader, more inclusive and more sustainable economy – powered by cleaner and cheaper energy, a better-trained workforce with higher participation and key investments in the care economy, digital economy and a future made in Australia.

This will give Australians the best chance to earn a decent living, keep up with the skyrocketing costs of living, make ends meet, secure more of the opportunities of a recovering economy and get ahead.

As we emerge from the pandemic, Australia is unprepared for the most pressing economic challenges – rising inflation, falling real wages and not having enough economic benefit to show for a trillion dollars in public debt.

Even with the unemployment rate falling in welcome ways, we aren’t seeing the wages growth we need in a labour market characterised by skill shortages, underemployment and insecure work. This is a consequence of the Liberals’ policy settings, which are deliberately designed to keep wages low.

Labor’s five-point Economic Plan is calibrated to reduce the costs of living; drive productivity growth and expand the capacity of the economy to alleviate supply side pressures; get wages growing so that Australians aren’t held back or left behind; and invest public money in a way that delivers genuine economic value for Australians.

Of course, this needs to be a private sector-led recovery – that is not contested. We know that our Economic Plan will only be successful through genuine partnerships and collaboration with business.

Achieving this broad, sustainable and inclusive economic growth together through productivity gains will be the key factor in creating and maintaining more jobs, better pay and better living standards, and putting the Budget on a more sustainable footing.

That’s why Labor’s Budget Strategy is tailored to Australia’s economic conditions and is designed to:

• Make room for smart, targeted investments that expand the capacity of the economy, so that it can grow stronger, broader and more sustainably.
• Improve the quality of spending to generate a budget position that will allow us to reduce debt as a share of the economy over time, while delivering real outcomes for Australians in essential areas like Medicare, aged care and child care.

We will do this by:

• Prioritising smart, responsible and targeted investments that deliver economic value.
• Dealing with the Liberals’ wasteful spending including by trimming spending on contractors, consultants and labour hire in the public service.
• Conducting a waste and rorts audit.
• Closing down loopholes which allow multinationals to avoid their tax obligations to Australians.

You can read Labor’s Plan for a Better Economy, Better Budget and Better Future in full here.

You can read Labor's election costings here.

Related Policies

• Labor's Plan to Ensure Multinationals Pay Their Fair Share of Tax
• Labor's Plan to Reduce Waste and Reinvest in the Australian Public Service
• Labor’s Plan for Better Competition