Discussions about productivity cannot be separated from discussions about the kind of society we want to live in and whose living standards we are trying to lift. We must address Australia’s growing inequality which is one of the major causes of weak productivity and declining living standards in Australia.

We are now the second-wealthiest country in the world yet one in eight of us still lives in poverty, including one in six children. Meanwhile, wealth inequality continues to grow. Shares and investment property in Australia are very unequally distributed - the top 10% hold around 80% of those assets by value. And while those in the top 10% hold nearly $5m each in wealth, more than 600,000 people have been living on $395 per week for more than a year, with the unemployment payment now just 43% of the minimum wage. Many among this group are older people and people with disability.

This dramatic........

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