Contrasting outcomes consign Coalition to the compost heap of history

Prices, employment, growth and debt confirm the Coalition parties are running out of breath, as Alan Austin reports.

WHEN morrison The Coalition Government was formulating the Federal Budget In October 2020, net debt rose to $602 billion and is still rising. Ten months later, it reached $626.2 billion.

In this 2020 Budget, net debt in the Coalition environment was forecast to reach $812.1 billion in 2021-22 and then $966.2 billion in 2023-24, which would be disastrous.

Fortunately, in their wisdom, voters ousted the incompetent Coalition in the 2022 Election, allowing Labor to change almost the entire economic landscape and reverse most of the bad trends.

Net debt at end 2023-24 after two Labor budgets reduced It reached only $491.5 billion. Do you see the difference? A cool $474.7 billion – almost half a trillion.

Latest numberIt was $552.0 billion in September.

It’s time to disappear forever

Similar contrasting results on other key variables reveal stark disparities in vision, strategy and competence between major political groups.

They strongly argue that time is up for the coalition parties, the Liberals and Nationals. These are now Robert Menzies, John Gorton, John McEwen And Doug Anthony. Or even Malcolm Fraser, Peter Costello, Tim Fisher And Warren Cage. They should follow now Protectionist Party, Commonwealth Liberals, nationalists And United AustraliaThese all ran federal governments in the past, but eventually ran out of power.

The current turmoil among Conservative parties over climate policy, extraction and leadership confirms that time is up. But it is in the economy where they have long claimed superiority and lost all credibility and authority.

Economic competence in every field

It’s fair to focus on debt to expose the coalition’s hollowness, as they chose it as a weapon of attack in their tawdry election campaign against the United States. Rudd And gillard Governments in this period Global Financial Crisis. Labour’s net debt reached 10.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, the third lowest in the OECD. Later, in 2021, during the Coalition period, this rate reached 28.4%.

Of course, we can look at all the other critical results and come to the same conclusion: Labor is clearly managing the economy much better.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) did just that with the finale of its mission last Thursday report About the Australian economy to 2025.

Prime Minister’s extremely positive assessment Anthony AlbaneseIMF management found that:

‘Australia is making a soft landing amid global uncertainty: Inflation has fallen significantly, the labor market remains strong and private demand is recovering.’

Regarding debt in particular, the IMF reported:

‘…gradual fiscal consolidation is expected to narrow government and societal deficits, supported by spending reforms and the normalization of infrastructure spending, keeping public debt at a low level.’

Economic growth still looks good

somewhat surprisingly release Last Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABSs) found that economic growth was positive in all eight states and territories during fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

While historically it has not been unusual for all states to increase their gross state product at the same time, this is the first time we have seen this in a row in a decade.

This is because these are unusually difficult times for GDP growth globally. Like meA. We have previously reported that Australia is the world’s only economy with triple-A credit ratingsinflation is in the optimum band and continuous GDP growth for the last three years.

The IMF also confirmed this:

‘The economy is gaining momentum; The growth forecast is 1.8 percent in 2025 and 2.1 percent in 2026.’

Employment remains strong

of Australia unemployment rate Although it is still low comparatively, it corrected in the right direction in October, falling from 4.45% in September, which was the highest level in the last 46 months, to 4.34%.
Australia has returned to the top nine OECD member economies with low unemployment rates, now ahead of the UK, Norway and the Czech Republic. The OECD average is now 5.87%, up from 5.59% the previous year, confirming that times are tougher.

The IMF agrees:

‘Tension in the labor market is gradually decreasing, but the unemployment rate (4.3 percent) remains low compared to historical norms.’

Wages continue to rise above inflation

Last Wednesday’s ABS data showed wages rose 0.8% in the September quarter, or 3.41% for the full year. That’s eight quarters of wages rising faster than prices.
This contrasts with ten consecutive quarters of inflation-exceeding wage increases under Coalition rule from the June quarter of 2021.

While the headline inflation rate rose to 3.47% in monthly data for September, core inflation (or shortened average) remains well within the RBA’s optimum band of 2.80%.

The IMF believes Australia’s costs of living are now under control:

‘Headline inflation is expected to return to the RBA’s target range of 2 to 3 per cent.’

Fake media is just as useless

Pro-coalition newsrooms are devastated that their favorite political parties have destroyed them and are earnestly trying to rehabilitate them with the best reporting and lots of free advice.

Latest headlines in the newspaper Australian Financial Review including:

The nation would be greatly benefited if the vanishing Coalition parties took the pro-Tory media with them.