Australian Economy

Ah yes, freedom Morrison Government style.

Anyone with a memory longer than a goldfish will know that the last time Australia was fighting a combined falling commodity price and rising wages outlook was in the late 1980s: The Prices and Incomes Accord was an agreement between the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Labor Party government of Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer (later Prime Minister) Paul Keating in 1983.

Driving around Melbourne’s streets over the past fortnight has been an eerie experience.

WES with the warning today: OMICRON cases will peak soon but they will also remain elevated for months given the private sector lockdown and second stage surge as schooling resumes.

Playing the Joker card worked a treat in the left and right weekend press for the Morrison Government: This immense distraction has only one purpose, to bury the lede of the collapse of government service delivery during Morrison’s “let it rip” recession.

Queensland has seen three more COVID deaths, all from unvaccinated persons (two were people in their 70s and one was in their 60s), and nearly 24,000 new cases, taking the total national new case for today towards the 130,000 level.

Following a record day for COVID deaths in NSW, Queensland has reported six deaths for its highest one-day total, with nearly 15,000 cases officially reported: From ABC: Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said three of the deaths were people in residential aged care.

The national economy is falling apart: Judo Bank chief executive Joseph Healy has warned the worst is still to come as omicron’s rapid spread and closed borders combine to stifle Australia’s economic recovery.

Like the astronomer scouring the heavens for new phenomena, the observer of economic history only very occasionally has the chance to put his name to something.

I’m on leave this week but managed to squeeze in a 10 minute interview with Radio 2GB explaining why the Big Australia mass immigration program should not be rebooted: Hopefully Labor will take a more sensible policy to the upcoming federal election, although I doubt it.

The other States put in there COVID stats this morning, with Tasmania first with nearly 1400 cases: Here is QLD: The Gold Coast cluster continues to be a sore point for Queensland health professionals.