Key points:
- Anthony Albanese is calling for the Government to spend big on "nation-building projects"
- Labor thinks recovery from the COVID-19 recession will be anything but swift
- It is now putting pressure on the Government to extend JobKeeper payments and maintain the temporary boost to JobSeeker
High-speed rail should be given the green light, government services decentralised and the manufacturing sector "revitalised", according to the Labor leader, who argues Australia must emerge a more resilient country once the pandemic has passed.
"Our challenge must be to recover, stronger," Mr Albanese will tell his Caucus colleagues today, "not just to return to as we were".
"Let's not 'snap back' to insecure work, to job seekers stuck in poverty, to scientists being ignored", he is expected to say, in reference to the Prime Minister's ambition for a quick recovery once the partial economic shut down has ended.
But with the crisis leaving up to a million Australians out of work — pushing the unemployment rate to what will be its highest level in 26 years — Labor thinks the recovery will be anything but swift.
Having supported the $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme, it is now putting pressure on the Government to extend it, while also maintaining the temporary $550 a fortnight boost to the JobSeeker unemployment benefit.
Mr Albanese will today deliver a broad ranging "vision statement" to lay down markers as the Morrison Government considers major economic reforms to stave off a deep and prolonged recession.
Last week, the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg flagged increased spending on infrastructure and the need to "upskill" workers who had lost their jobs, while making Australia more competitive through changes to the tax and industrial relations systems.
While Mr Albanese has embraced the need for reform, he is warning off the Prime Minister from attacking unionism and pursuing traditional conservative agendas.
"We must build more permanent jobs, an industrial relations system that promotes co-operation, productivity improvements and shared benefits," he is expected to say.
"It's no time for a 'snap back' to the Liberal agenda of cutting services, suppressing wages and undermining job security."
Instead, Mr Albanese is encouraging the Government to spend big on "nation-building projects" like high-speed rail to inject money into the economy while keeping Australians in work.
He is calling for "an appropriate decentralisation strategy" to boost regional economies, the restoration of public service jobs that have been outsourced to contractors and "significant investment" in social and affordable housing.
Manufacturing is also in his sights.
One of the lessons governments are learning from the crisis is that globalisation has left countries exposed and vulnerable to supply chains.
Most of the coronavirus testing kits and personal protective equipment worn by Australia's doctors and nurses came from China which locked down and closed its factories at the beginning of the outbreak.
While rejecting protectionist policies, the Morrison Government has acknowledged the need to retool the manufacturing sector to ensure Australia is no longer reliant on other countries for essential items.
Mr Albanese will use his speech to reinforce the need to "once again become a country that produces high-tech manufacturing" and one that invests in science.
Referencing Labor's wartime prime ministers John Curtin and Ben Chifley, he will urge Mr Morrison to be bold as he seeks to rebuild an economy ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis.
"A once-in-a-generation chance to reshape our economy so it works for people and deepens the meaning of the fair go," he will argue.
"Curtin and Chifley once spoke of 'Victory in War, Victory in Peace'."
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