The Prime Minister’s recent jobs-growth trumpeting took some unpacking (in two articles by Bernard Keane), but Crikey readers felt up to the task of deconstructing the more spurious side of his spin. Elsewhere, readers weighed in on backbencher Kevin Andrews, and the misunderstood public art of Perth.
On Scott Morrison’s economic theories
John Kotsopoulos writes: What ScheMo also failed to mention is that just 55% of the jobs, or 676,000 of 1.239 million, created since September 2013 have been full time. In other words, his mob’s stewardship of the economy is turning full time jobs into often insecure part time ones at a great rate of knots. His next trick must surely be to halve national debt by bringing in guillotines at the Reserve Bank to cut in half tens of billions in freshly printed $100 notes.
Anne Lampe writes: What does it matter how big the claimed budget surplus is, if wage earners feel only worse off because they haven’t had a real pay rise in years and he isn’t offering any? He’s all for big business and tax cuts and has no idea how ordinary Australians struggle to pay their bills and find a job that offers more than an hour a week.
Mark E Smith writes: Saying a strong economy creates conditions for wage growth is quite true and fair comment. It’s just the step from one to the other that’s been a bit stuck for some years now. I’m sure it’ll be fine after they’re re-elected. Or re re-elected, or re re re…
Marcus L’Estrange writes: In May last year, Adam Creighton, economics editor at The Australian and hardly a left-winger, headlined in The Australian: “Be honest about unemployment”. He said that when the underemployed (those who cannot find enough paid work) and those only marginally attached to the labour force are added to the unemployed, it comes to over 3.37 million, or 23% of working-age Australians. Those 3.37 million were competing for only 170,000 advertised jobs that month. To me, this 23% corresponds to the about 25% of people who won’t vote for a major federal political party, making it difficult for both Coalition and Labor governments to have budgets adopted. If governments won’t ensure jobs, it is no wonder so many Australians won’t vote for them.
On Kevin Andrews
Roger Clifton writes: A while back, NT passed a voluntary euthanasia law, saluted around the world. Kevin Andrews then led a pack of federal bigots to override the territory law. Resentment at his presumption still runs deep on both sides of politics.
On Perth’s unique public art
Rhonda Kerr writes: Many people enjoy this moment of art viewed from the freeway, as it has helped humanise a raw, new development rich in roads, concrete and aggressive advertising.
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