Today’s national accounts figures reveal a sluggish economy growing too slowly to deliver the growing wages and new jobs Australians deserve, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.
“Australians are rightly crying out for wages growth but we can’t deliver that with an economy standing still. These numbers should be a wake-up call, to grow wages and create new jobs we need a plan that gets the economy moving again.
“We need a comprehensive plan to grow the economy, lift productivity and grow wages for Australian workers.
“GDP growth of just 0.2 per cent last quarter and 2.3 per cent through the year is simply too low to create the new jobs and growing wages Australians have come to expect over the last two decades.
“The figures released today show that productivity, the key to driving wages growth, has fallen for the past three quarters. Business investment is needed to drive productivity but as a share of GDP it remains around levels seen coming out of the early-90s recession. Australian workers are at risk.
“Employers are ready to invest in new jobs and higher wages but we can only deliver on that potential if Australia gets the settings right to boost growth and investment.”
