Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Peter Dutton has said the jobs and skills summit didn’t come close to being the “Bob Hawke-style” event Labor was hoping for.
The Opposition Leader delivered his verdict on the summit, which he chose not to participate in, at the Coalition’s party room meeting on Tuesday.
It wasn’t the first time Mr Dutton had sought to criticise the event by comparing Anthony Albanese with former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, who navigated landmark negotiations with unions in the early 1980s.
Mr Dutton said the announcements that came out of this year’s summit, such as the increase in permanent migration cap by 35,000 places, were “hardly surprising”.
“What Labor offered up was less generous, less attractive, and therefore less effective at dealing with worker shortages,” he said.
“The remainder was really filled with a union-driven agenda that was returning the favour of paymasters.
“And we know that paychecks make for good politics, certainly, but the question is, what the outcome will be for policy and what the outcome will be for the Australian economy.”
The boost to migration numbers was one of 36 immediate initiatives the Albanese government committed to after the two-day summit, which brought together 143 representatives from unions, business and the public sector.
Union representatives made up one-quarter of the guest list.
Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers have both hailed the event as a success that heralds a new era of co-operation for the nation’s economy.
The federal government also signed off on a plan to allow age pensioners to be able to work more hours without having their payments reduced under a plan unveiled at the summit.
The announcement made Mr Dutton an unlikely winner of the event he chose to snub, given he had proposed pension reforms.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud participated in the summit, saying he had accepted his invitation in order to make sure regional and rural Australians were represented.
Mr Dutton has stood by his decision to boycott the event based on the Liberal Party’s claim it would amount to nothing more than a “union talkfest”.
The Liberal Party has seized on “militant” maritime union leader Christy Cain’s attendance.
The opposition used much of its allocated questions during question time in parliament on Monday to continue the attack.
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley accused the Prime Minister of having invited a “misogynistic thug” to the event, referring to Mr Cain’s attendance.
