With a Federal Election looming, Australians will soon be asked to make a choice about which party they want to lead the nation whether in majority or minority government for the next three years.

Far too much of the media coverage of the coming campaign will be focused on the horse race: whos showing up in which marginal seat with a bucket of money, which front bench MP forgot their key portfolio data when put on the spot by the press gallery, why is Barnaby Joyce not allowed to leave his electorate?

Too little attention is paid to the actual policies, or lack thereof, on offer from the major parties, let alone what the government has achieved in the policy space during the short term of this 47th federal parliament. So, as a proud policy wonk, let me put some facts on the table.

Many political commentators would have you believe that this is a do-nothing government with few policy achievements to its credit. I beg to disagree! As the head of a public policy think tank, I am focussed relentlessly on what can and should be done to build a better Australia for our kids and grandkids. And, while there are many issues facing our country today, from the effects of climate change to the cost of living crisis, the current Federal Government has delivered on many promises and has really listened when we at Per Capita and other policy advocates have presented evidence for change.

Here are just some of the policy challenges that have been met by the Albanese Government over the last two years and nine months:

1. Overhauled the Stage Three Tax cuts to restore its progressivityand provide support to working families, ensuring that everyone who pays income tax got a tax cut, not just the wealthy.
2. Introduced world-leading tax evasion laws for multinational corporations.
3. Invested more in social housing than any federal government in 30 years.
4. Restored the single parent payment to those with children aged up to 14, lifting their social security payments by $176.90 per fortnight.
5. Criminalised wage theft.
6. Fixed a broken Industrial Relations system to get real wages growing for the first time in a decade.
7. A record investment in Medicare, creating 103,000 more bulk billed visits to the GP every week for kids and pensioners.
8. Implemented paid domestic violence leave.
9. Expanded paid parental leave, including more “use it or lose it” leave for dads.
10. Funded long-overdue pay rises for skilled, essential workers in the Aged Care and Early Childhood Education sectors.
11. Increased child care rebates, and introduced legislation to guarantee three days of subsidised early childhood education and care for all kids, whether or not their parents are in work.
12. Introduced payment for Social Work, Nursing, Midwifery and Teaching degree students for their compulsory practical placement hours.
13. Dedicated $3.2 billion to the Future Made in Australia plan.
14. Introduced mandated climate reporting for businesses.
15. Made changes to HECS/HELP indexation, giving many graduates and students debt relief.
16. Cut existing student debts by 20%.
17. Introduced protections for gig economy workers.
18. Funded free TAFE for students in core trades and services.
19. Reformed the NDIS to massively reduce corporate rorting by multinational companies.
20. Announced a Scams Prevention Framework making banks and social media companies responsible for scams that have cost innocent people thousands of dollars.
21. Legislated long overdue reforms to create a sustainable funding model for our aged care system.
22. Reformed the operation and strengthened the independence of the Reserve Bank.
23. Increased the proportion of renewable energy in the national grid to over 40%, with the aim of reaching 82% by 2030.
24. Provided targeted cost-of-living relief to households and small businesses through energy rebates.
25. Increased Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 45%.
26. Investing half a billion dollars in womens and reproductive health.

And all while bringing inflation down from a high of 7.8% in December 2022 to right within the RBA’s target range in just two years critically, without throwing another 100,000 people out of work, as so many economists insisted would be necessary. So much for the NAIRU* being 4.5%, huh?!The Albanese Government’s commitment to Full Employment at the Jobs and Skills Summit in 2022, and again through its reforms of the RBA, is a particularly important shift, and one that can be credited for keeping those 100,000 families of the bread line during the cost of living crisis.

There is much still to be done. Perhaps the biggest challenge is to meaningfully reform our tax and transfer system to reduce inequality and invest in the benefits of a net zero economy. Whomever wins the coming election, thats a can they cant continue to kick down the road.

But the list of policy achievements above demonstrates that the first term Albanese Government has done quite a lot, actually and most of it targeted at lifting productivity, restoring opportunity and reducing the growing inequality between people who did very well during the Howard years, and those of us who, for too long, have been left behind.

*Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment

Republished from PerCapita, Feb, 2025