Michael is joined by Judith Sloan, Contributing Economics Editor with ‘The Australian’, to discuss Labor’s job summit which she says “will achieve nothing apart from giving the voting public the impression of warring participants looking to the government to gain favours”.

“No doubt it seemed like a good idea at the time when Anthony Albanese announced Labor’s intention to hold an employment summit to deal with the issues of unemployment and underemployment. Floundering for attention at the height of the pandemic, Albanese obviously thought the proposal for such an event looked positive and forward-looking”, writes Ms Sloan.

“As events panned out, the theme of the summit quickly looked out of place as the labour market flipped to offering too few workers, particularly with the right skills, for the jobs available. Sensing this obsolescence, the Prime Minister and his Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, switched the emphasis of the summit to skills, wages and migration. Industry policy and the role of women also have been included.”

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