Who will stand up for us?

It’s time for Labor to get off the fence

Tonight, Josh Frydenberg announced a budget that gives big business the power to decide how we rebuild from this crisis instead of us.

Instead of directly creating jobs, this government is subsidising big business to entrench insecure work for our generation. JobMaker is simply a subsidy for businesses dressed up as support for young people.

While Scott Morrison is using this crisis to line the pockets of big business, we need an opposition who will stand up and fight for our future. But instead of fighting for a transformative plan to rebuild from this crisis, Anthony Albanese has been sitting on the fence on climate, jobs and rebuilding our public services [1].

Right now, hundreds of thousands of Australians are looking for work and we have less than a decade to stop climate devastation. The time for half-measures and tentative first-steps is over. We have already waited too long for the ALP to show us a plan that matches the urgency of this crisis. We can’t wait any longer.

Tonight Josh Frydenberg mentioned climate change and supporting new gas in the same breath. Less than a week ago Anthony Albanese told his Labor colleagues to stay silent on the approval of new polluting gas projects.

On Thursday evening Anthony Albanese is due to deliver his response to this budget. This is his chance to get off the fence, reject the influence of big business and stand with our generation.

Call on Anthony Albanese to use his budget reply speech to stand up to Scott Morrison’s big business agenda and outline a real alternative for recovering from this crisis.

Albo: Fight for a truly transformative rebuild agenda with urgent, coordinated action to solve the climate crisis that creates good public service jobs for everyone who needs one >>

Anthony Albanese seems to think he can sit on the fence while our future is under threat. But our movement is growing, and we will show him that silence has a price.

Every day that we wait for Labor to show us a real plan for creating good jobs and a safe climate is a day that our movement will spend organising, agitating and disrupting. We will make ourselves impossible to ignore in key electorates all over the country and build public support for a recovery that puts people first.

Anthony Albanese: use your budget reply speech to get off the fence and show us a real plan for rebuilding from this crisis and building our future >>

We know what an alternative recovery could look like. We’re calling for a Climate Jobs Guarantee, a bold vision for how our country could solve the climate crisis, create good jobs and rebuild our public services at the same time.

We could enter a new era of dignity and justice. We could guarantee good jobs to everyone who wants one, no matter where they were born or what their visa status. We could revitalise our public services and provide universal health-care, free education, public housing and a vibrant arts and cultural life for our communities. We could transform our energy system to run on 100% renewable energy and so much more to protect our communities from climate harm.

Ushering in the era of the Climate Jobs Guarantee needs to start right now. Will Labor stand with us and fight for a recovery that puts people first or will they continue to sit on the fence?

[1] Labor has talked a big game about renewable energy, but their 2050 target is too little, too late. Albanese has cowardly called on Labor to stay silent on new fossil fuel projects which will have a devastating impact on land, water and the climate. While Albanese has finally committed to supporting an increase in Jobseeker, he has failed to commit to an amount. We need Anthony Albanese to take a stand for our future, and commit to a massive, coordinated effort to solve the climate crisis and transform our country by investing in public services and job creation with something like a Climate Jobs Guarantee.