Why Chalmers won't be baited by media misreporting the economy

Australia’s incompetent mainstream newsrooms continue feeding the nation anti-Labor editorials as the Federal Election looms. Here's why Jim Chalmers won't take the bait. Alan Austin reports.

FIFTY YEARS AGO this month, Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam attended the annual agricultural show in Warragul, in Gippsland’s lush, green dairy country.

Despite having an excellent story to tell about the economic recovery, to his dismay, he was heckled relentlessly. In an unguarded moment, Whitlam lashed out at the angry cow cockies with the retort, “You’ve never had it so good!” Howls of outrage at such hubris could be heard from Jindivick to Poowong North.

Leading up to this, Gippsland’s farmers – along with most Victorians – had been fed daily condemnations of Whitlam’s reformist agenda from The Sun, The Herald, Truth and The Australian. And the Warragul Gazette.

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Following the lead of Sky News and the Murdoch newspapers, Australia's national broadcaster is misreporting Labor’s economy.

But as a local accountant observed, Whitlam was right. Butterfat prices in 1975 were at an all-time high, and exports from the Warragul Milk Factory and the Drouin Butter Factory were stronger than ever. The rural economy was, in fact, in an exceptional boom.

History repeats

Statutory authorities today again show economic outcomes vastly better than under the previous regime. Yet newsrooms continually deny this.

When ABC's Hamish Macdonald interviewed Treasurer Jim Chalmers last month he told his Sydney ABC listeners:

“I suspect many Sydney‑siders don’t necessarily feel better off after a few years of this Labor Government. Times are pretty tough.”

That wasn’t a question. It was an editorial, unfounded, but well-rehearsed on every mainstream outlet.

Last Thursday on Sky News, Peter Stefanovic opined:

“The economy swung upwards for the last quarter. That's good at one level. The other, though, is that most households and businesses aren't feeling that at all.”

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That’s another assertion. Stefanovic doesn’t know what most citizens are feeling — especially those flying overseas or buying expensive jewellery in record numbers. Does he know businesses invested more in buildings, plant and equipment last year than ever before? He is probably going by feedback from disgruntled listeners whose ignorance and misery he routinely instructs.

Also, last Thursday, when interviewing the Treasurer, Sally Sara told her ABC Radio National audience:

“You're saying that the economy has turned a corner, but living standards are still lower than when you came into office.”

That’s another anti-Labor editorial, also false. (Independent Australia wrote to Sara after that interview asking, ‘What data is this based on?’ (To date, there has been no reply.)

Comparing governments then and now

The sad reality is that, as in Whitlam’s era, newsrooms are refusing to report Labor’s economy fairly. So here is an attempt to redress this. This is not complete, so updates may follow.

These lists compare published outcomes at the time of the 2022 May Election with the latest available data.

Note: Itemsasterisked (*) are at all-time highs.

Big picture (macroeconomic indicators)

Quarterly inflation — 6.14% then, 2.42% now.
Workers gainfully employed — 13,448,200 then, 14,634,300* now.
Total labour force — 13,986,400 then, 15,261,800* now.
Annual business investment (volume, non-mining) — $109.2 billion then, $126.6* now.
Total corporate gross profits in the last year — $478.3 billion then, $520.0 billion now.
Construction work (volumes) for the last year — $255.0 billion then, $291.1 billion now.
Private sector engineering construction, annual — $63.0 billion then, $73.2 billion now.
Last budget outcome (mid-year 2024/25) — $134.2 billion deficit then, $15.8 billion surplus now.
Budget outcome prior to mid-year — $85.3 billion deficit then, $22.1 billion surplus now.
Net debt to GDP — 22.1% then, 18.4% now.
Gross debt to GDP — 39.2%* then, 33.9% now.
ASX all ordinaries — 7,391 index points then, 8,178 now.
Employees’ share of national income: 49.3% then, 53.8% now. (See chart, below.)

Workforce outcomes

Jobless rate — 3.85% then, 4.11% now.
Job participation rate — 66.22% then, 67.32%* now.
Workers jobless for more than one year — 199,400 then, 122,600 now.
Average weekly earnings — $1,280.30 then, $1,510.90* now.
Employment to population ratio — 63.67% then, 64.55%* now. (See chart below.)

Household wellbeing

Minimum wage, weekly — $772.60 then, $915.90* now.
Lift in minimum wage over the previous two years — $31.80 then, $103.30* now.
Retail spending as a percentage of GDP — 15.86% then, 16.82%* now.
Percentage of all retail sales on dining out: 13.82% then, 15.05% now.
Percentage of retail sales on luxuries: 18.15% then, 21.31%* now.
New car sales in the last year: 753,256 then, 1,221,200* now.
Imported perfumes and cosmetics in the last year: $2.47 billion then, $3.72 billion* now.
Imported jewellery in the last year: $1.92 billion then, $2.53 billion* now.
Proportion of students attending fee-paying private schools: 34.9% then, 36.6%* now.

Poverty alleviation measures

Adult unemployment benefit, fortnightly — $642.70 then, $778.00* now.
Age pension — $900.80 then, $1,047.10* now.
Youth allowance living away — $530.40 then, $663.30* now.
Annual capital investment on public housing — $7.34 billion then, $9.39 billion* now.
Families in social housing — 417,154 then, 426,470* now.
Annual overseas aid allocation — $3,755 million then, $5,222 million* now. (See chart below.)

Outcomes persistently negative

Of course, not all outcomes are positive — only most of them. Continuing challenges include:

GDP annual growth — 3.62% then, 1.27% now.
GDP quarterly growth — 1.00% then, 0.58% now.
Productivity — 105.1 index points then, 99.1 now.

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To be fair to the Government, most negative results are global problems. So, while GDP growth is historically low, Australia, as we saw in I A last week, is one of only three developed countries with uninterrupted expansion for the last three years.

Is there an argument that Jim Chalmers and his colleagues should be more assertive with the partisan hacks in the Canberra press gallery refusing to report the economy truthfully?

Perhaps. But we are not seeing it. Chalmers responds to all hostile questions gently and calmly. He’s unlikely to say, “You’ve never had it so good”, even though that’s true for most Australians today.

He learned that from Gough Whitlam.