I’ve been consistently critical of the Labor party since Anthony Albanese became leader after Labor’s narrow but unexpected loss in 2019. It’s always easy to fall prey to confirmation bias in this kind of thing, making much of the bad and ignoring the good. To check my beliefs, I’m taking a widely circulated list of Labor’s claimed achievements, and giving my own responses. This is by no means a complete list of the governments achievements, and of course it doesn’t mention failures, but I’m confining myself to the list for now. Readers can judge whether I’m being fair.
Claims are in bold, my responses in italic
*Establishing National anti-corruption Commission
No significant prosecutions yet, decision not to pursue robodebt
*Cheaper child care
Genuine, but partially eroded by fee increases
*Pay rise for aged care workers
A special case, amid real wage reductions for most workers
*Tripling the bulk billing incentive
Not sufficient to prevent a decline in bulk billing
*Single parent payment extended to age 14 (57,000 single carers will receive an extra $176.90 p/n)
Good. Reversal of change made by Howard and accelerated under Gillard
*$500 electricity rebate for all concession card holders
A once-off handout
*Savings on PBS subsidised meds
$12.50 per script Small but worthwhile
*60 Day dispensing halving the cost of medications
Overstated, but still worthwhile
*Paid domestic violence carers leave
Up to 10 days, small but worthwhile
*Increase to Jobseeker and Rent Assistance (biggest increase to rent assistance in three decades)
Jobseeker increase of $20 above indexation (Morrison gave $50 increase). Still way below poverty line. Rent assistance just kept pace with rising rents
*Cybersecurity developments
No idea what this is
*The Housing Australia Future Fund
A half-baked idea, still to produce any actual houses. Greens pressure drove much stronger action.
*Robodebt Royal Commission
No consequences for those responsible, no systemic reforms
*180,000 fee free TAFE places
Good. Probably the most significant expenditure initiative of this government
*NDIS sustainability
These are cuts. Arguably necessary but misleadingly described
*Largest increase ever for cancer nurses
Small but worthwhile
*Review into Australia’s visa system
If there is one thing this government does, it’s review
*Reopening trade to China
Overstated – China’s sanctions were largely symbolic and never affected our major export, iron ore
* Triple incentives for GPs
Repeated from above – not enough to stop decline in bulk billing
*58 Urgent Care Clinics
Worthwhile but small, and far too little to fix problems in emergency wards
* Fairer conditions for workers
Working conditions one of the positives for this government, but real wages have fallen
* Fixing a one-sided tax change
More hide than Jessie the Elephant. The one-sided tax change was their own election commitment, matching the LNP. Even after the fix, most middle income earners paid higher taxes than when the government was elected because of the scrapping of LMITO
* Two Surpluses (Two more than the LNP)
Who cares
* Aged care reforms
Marginal tweaks
* Halving of the inflation rate since coming into office.
If Labor wants credit for this, should be blamed for increase in unemployment rate and reduction in real wages