Australia news live: Jim Chalmers says he has ‘other priorities’ than a gas tax; Anthony Albanese calls to congratulate Andy Burnham

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Jim Chalmers has claimed rightwing political parties will “prey on” voter insecurities about a worsening economy while championing “anti-worker” policies.

The treasurer previewed Labor’s economic attack lines for the next election campaign in an interview from the party’s national conference in Adelaide with 7.30 last night. Chalmers claimed One Nation, the Liberal party and the Nationals did not have plans that would ease the pressure on workers. He said:

We’re actually acting to do something about it … our political opponents, the seek to prey on those pressures and those anxieties that people feel, at the same time as their anti-worker agenda would make things worse rather than better.

We’ve done a whole range of things to boost wages in our economy because, deliberately, we believe that one of the best ways to help with these cost-of-living pressures is to make sure that people are paid decent wages. That’s been our [Labor’s] reason for being for more than a hundred years.
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