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Sarah-Jane Tasker: Test looms for Albanese Government on jobs and skills crisis

Sarah-Jane TaskerThe West Australian
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The Albanese Government faces a test on the skills crisis.
Camera IconThe Albanese Government faces a test on the skills crisis. Credit: jarmoluk/Pixabay

The spotlight is firmly on former prime minister Scott Morrison this week — and rightly so as he’s had an absolute shocker.

But rather than give you another view on why the former leader inflating his power in secret is concerning, let’s shine the spotlight back on those in power today as they are about to be tested on their response to an issue crippling our State.

Anthony Albanese and his top economic gang are two weeks out from their skills summit. Treasurer Jim Chalmers released the issues paper for the event this week to outline its main focus, with productivity, wages growth, training and migration all on the list.

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“We want to get productivity growing again. We want wages growing in a sustainable way again. It shouldn’t be beyond a country like ours to come together and seek common ground on those objectives,” he said.

Business leaders are up for it and believe this summit could be the best chance for economic reform in a generation.

One reform WA businesses want immediate action on is migration. In WA there are 1.4 vacant jobs for every unemployed person looking for a job — we desperately need outside talent coming here.

Treasury is proposing that post the summit it will produce a white paper to map a “comprehensive blueprint” for the future Australian labour market.

The pressure and expectations are high on this and if it ends up becoming a paper that delivers dust on a shelf then the Government will have failed its first major test to use its power to produce much-needed reform.

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