SKILLS SHORTAGE CONUNDRUM
Australia has half a million jobs up for grabs but is finding it near impossible to fill most of them. The Prime Minister’s $5.4b plan to make child care cheaper for families also forms a central part of his strategy to address the skills shortage. But Mr Albanese is also facing calls to encourage pensioners to return to the workforce. New Liberal leader Peter Dutton has pressed the Albanese Government to allow pensioners to earn more money without seeing their pensions being cut back — borrowing an idea championed by WA mining magnate Gina Rinehart and rejected by the Coalition. Currently pensioners can earn $300 a fortnight before their pension payments are reduced, but Mr Dutton wants the income threshold to be increased to $600.
