The OECD’s survey on Australia released today highlights the recovery in our economy and the Government’s responsible economic management in uncertain times.
This report is a powerful endorsement of Labor’s economic management and reform agenda.
The OECD has confirmed that the Albanese Government has been able to achieve a “soft landing” in Australia’s economy in the face of substantial global volatility by getting inflation down while avoiding a recession and keeping unemployment low.
The report says that without Labor’s economic management, including cost of living support to households, Australia might have experienced a recession in 2023–24 – which is what took place in other countries like the UK, New Zealand and Germany.
It commends the Government’s reforms to transform Australia’s energy system, to make Australia’s economy more competitive and to make the Reserve Bank more effective.
The report describes our new mandatory notification merger regime as “a major step forward” which will “bring Australia in line with OECD best practices” and describes the government’s revitalised National Competition Policy as a positive step to boost competition.
More homes, more cleaner and cheaper energy and progress on addressing Australia’s longstanding productivity challenge feature prominently in this report and the report also highlights they are big features of Labor’s economic plan.
Under Labor, economic growth is picking up, business investment is strengthening, unemployment is low, participation is at near record highs, real wages are growing, debt is down, the budget is stronger and interest rates fell three times last year.
We’ve made a lot of progress together on the economy but the job’s not done because people are still under pressure and that’s why we continue to roll out responsible cost‑of‑living relief at the same time as we modernise Australia’s economy and build more homes.
The three big economic priorities for the Albanese Government this year are addressing inflation, productivity and global uncertainty, and the OECD’s report shows why that’s the right approach.