Do-nothing Coalition to do nothing on growth

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It’s all the way with nothing, from Downgrade Morrison following the GDP shocker:

Treasurer Scott Morrison said the fall was “not just a reminder, not just a wake-up call or a warning about being complacent when it comes to economic growth and the need to boost incentives to investment, such as through corporate tax cuts.

“It is a demand to support economic policies that drive the investment needed to support job security, the hours and wages that hard-working Australians need to deal with rising costs of living, especially on electricity costs, and that businesses need to survive in a tough and competitive environment,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

“We’re looking for partners in this parliament who want to go on that journey with us so we can set up the next 25 years of growth, and today’s data says it’s time to join the national economic plan for jobs and growth.”

If a giant asteroid sank all of Australia bar Canberra, Downgrade Morrison would call for a corporate tax cut. It’s not coming nor should it given all it will do is damage income by sending more profits offshore.

As for electricity costs, give us all a break. It’s hardly the be all and end all and the Coalition is doing absolutely nothing about it anyway, letting the east coast gas cartel run amok.

What is needed is a vast platform of reform aimed at boosting both productivity and competitiveness; a program every bit as large as that embarked upon in the nineteen eighties which faced a similar post-mining boom adjustment.

Downgrade Morrison and his mechanical responses is just not the man for the job. He’s got what he deserves, no policies and growth to match.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.