Politics with Michelle Grattan
News:Politics
In his budget reply, Anthony Albanese said women have suffered most during the pandemic, but were reduced to a footnote in the budget. He promised a Labor government would undertake a generous reshaping of the childcare subsidy to enable more women to join the workforce or to work more hours.
This week, Michelle Grattan talks to Grattan Institute CEO Danielle Wood who, in writing for the Australian Financial Review, described the budget as “blokey”:
“We look at those areas that have received direct support - construction… the energy sector, defence, manufacturing, all of those areas where the government has put direct money into a particular sector - they tend to be male dominated sectors.
"And actually often they’re not the ones that have taken the hardest hit in this recession.
"The sectors that have been hit really hard: hospitality, tourism, the arts, recreation, administrative services tend to be actually slightly more female dominated… we really don’t see any direct assistance for those sectors in the budget. ”
When asked about the budget generally Wood, the president of the Economic Society of Australia, is concerned all the eggs have been put into the “private sector basket”.
“If it doesn’t pay off, then we may see unemployment sticking around for a long time to come.”
In the Grattan institute’s report, co-authored by Wood, and titled Cheaper Childcare, Wood endorsed reform in a similar vein to Albanese’s proposal.
“Our numbers suggest that for every dollar that you spend reforming the subsidy…you return more than two dollars in additional GDP,” she says.
“The Labor reforms… you’re probably talking, if its $2 billion a year… something in the vicinity of $5 billion return each year for GDP.”
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Jim Chalmers on Labor’s budget reaction
Peter Martin and Tim Colebatch on budget strategy and numbers
Jenny Macklin on inequality and Labor values
Ian McAllister on voters and issues in the coming election
Tony Abbott and Zali Steggall on Warringah votes
Kerryn Phelps on medical transfer numbers
Michael McCormack on banks and the bush, and the election battle
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Andrew Giles on the growing issue of loneliness
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Barnaby Joyce on facing the drought and rural women
Peter Jennings on Morrison's Jerusalem move
The battle for Wentworth
Clare O'Neil on Labor’s listening tour for banking victims
Brendan O'Connor on Labor’s industrial relations agenda
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