INTHEBLACK September 2021 - Magazine - Page 19
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02
DAN NAHUM
ANNETTE BEACHER
E C O N O M I S T, T H E A U S T R A L I A I N S T I T U T E
ECONOMIST AND ANCHOR, AUSBIZ
To strengthen the social and economic bonds that
insure us against crisis, governments worldwide
are turning to expanded public services, income
supports and investments in physical and social
infrastructure to reinvigorate their economies.
Countries that successfully handled the health
crisis of COVID-19 achieved the quickest, and best,
economic recoveries. This result contrasts with
voices that urged us to “let the virus rip”, as if the
economy could somehow be separated from the
wellbeing of the people it depends on.
Some workers felt financially compelled to work
even when they should have been isolating. We
must extend paid sick leave and limit casual
employment to those jobs that are genuinely
casual. Unfortunately, Australia has a long way
to go here. Casual jobs accounted for more than
60 per cent of all waged jobs created during the
second half of 2020. The Australian Government’s
recent industrial relations legislation will accelerate
that casualisation, allowing employers to classify
any workers, even those with regular hours, as
casuals. The key lessons from this crisis are that
looking after people means looking after the
economy, and we can afford to look after people.
Governments also need to put our economy on
a firmer, more diversified footing. Our hollowedout manufacturing sector needs policy attention
and tangible co-investment, as a source of both
economic resilience and good-quality, climatealigned jobs. We need to accelerate investment
in public services to keep us healthy, safe and
employed when the next crisis hits.
No one wants to think about the next pandemic
before we have fully recovered from COVID-19.
However, there are lessons that could help us
navigate and emerge from the next health crisis
in even better shape.
First and foremost, workplaces need to continue
with flexible work arrangements, so that lockdowns
provide minimal disruption to business. COVID-19
has fast-tracked a shift to digital platforms and
home-based deliverables that weren’t thought
possible only two to three years ago.
Another step is to re-establish a full-time health
professional in each aged care facility. Underpaid
part-time healthcare workers were “super spreaders”
early on in the pandemic, with tragic results.
Design, build and furnish remote quarantine
facilities – now! These facilities may be needed over
the next one to two years, as a minimum, as we build
up global herd immunity. Thereafter, these villages
could be repurposed as refugee accommodation,
for individuals and families to live more humanely
as they await processing by the authorities. In the
meantime, encourage more broad-based local
manufacturing – not only to build up a domestic
source of vaccines, but also to safeguard a plethora
of consumer goods in high demand during lockdowns.
Let’s not forget some personal responsibility,
such as building up skills and savings so that job
disruption doesn’t bankrupt families. It may not
be prudent to assume the same outsized level of
support from the government and the Reserve
Bank of Australia next time. While programs such
as JobKeeper were lifesavers for economic activity,
the bill is yet to be produced.
_
We must extend paid leave and limit casual
employment to those jobs that are genuinely
casual...The key lessons from this crisis are
that looking after people means looking after the
economy, and we can afford to look after people.
_
MEET THE
EXPERTS
DANIELLE WOOD
Danielle Wood is CEO of
the Grattan Institute. She
has published extensively on
economic reform priorities,
budget policy, tax reform,
generational inequality
and reforming political
institutions. She is the national
president of the Economic
Society of Australia and cofounder and former chair of the
Women in Economics Network.
DAN NAHUM
Dan Nahum is an economist
with the Australia Institute’s
Centre for Future Work. His
research interests include
industrial transformation,
labour markets in low-carbon
economies, government
finances, and inequity and
inequality. He holds a master’s
degree in political economy
from the University of Sydney
and an honours degree in
psychology from Macquarie
University.
ANNETTE BEACHER
Annette Beacher is an
economist with business news
provider ausbiz. She began
her career in government with
policy adviser roles for the
Commonwealth Treasury and
Department of Prime Minister
and Cabinet. She spent
25 years in senior economist
roles, including at Alliance
Bernstein and Citi, as well as
a decade in Singapore as the
head of Asia Pacific research
for TD Securities.
First and foremost, workplaces need to
continue with flexible work arrangements,
so that lockdowns provide minimal
disruption to business.
intheblack.com September 2021 19