2026-10-23
Worsening economic conditions under Labor come from their visionless plan tying our economic future to vampire US tech bros, the Greens say. This is in response to the Treasurer’s announcement that under Labor the economy will be focused on vampire US tech bros, with no answers to soaring corporate profits, untaxed resource exports or the resulting inequality.
The Treasurer’s warnings today about a bleak future show the growing economic divide in our country - where corporate profits are surging, growth is slowing, wages are falling, and unemployment growing.
This is largely being driven by corporate spending on data centres and AI that drives inflation in Australia and then sends their profits and economic benefits overseas. These same tech companies, like many resource exporters, then don’t even pay tax.
The RBA says that the ‘AI boom’ sits alongside rising oil prices as a key driver of inflation.
This time however, workers are seeing less and less of the share of the so-called ‘boom’ and are expected to pay the price for easing it through higher unemployment, higher interest rates and lower wage growth.
The Greens say that Labor needs to shut out these vampire AI and data corporations, tax corporate profits, and invest in making our economy work for Australians.
Lines from Leader of the Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge:
“Labor’s economic ‘plan’ continues to sell out workers and let millions of Australians down.
“This isn’t an accident. Instead of building a strong country that invests in itself and creates its own future, Labor has invited vampire US tech bros to our shores in hopes of a quick buck.
“A key reason the cost of living is surging is because Labor is letting corporate profits soar, driven by tech, gambling and mining corporations, into an ever greater share of our GDP.
“The result of this for 99% of Australians is simple. More for the corporate elite and less for you.
“Everyone can see that people aren’t getting anything out of the so-called ‘AI boom’ beyond short term construction jobs, and yet we know this is driving inflation and pushing up interest rates.
“Labor isn't hiding things here. Their plan is to make the rich richer, and everyone else to pay more for groceries, more for housing, and then to have unemployment rise to its highest level in years.
“This isn’t a plan by Labor to deal with growing economic head winds: it's a surrender.”
Lines from Greens Economic Justice Spokesperson, Senator Nick McKim:
“Labor is supporting an economy where working people are being smashed from every direction, while big corporations are laughing all the way to the bank.
“People are paying through the nose for groceries, rent and electricity, while the privatised companies that control the essentials of everyday life make obscene profits.
“Now we are being told that we must accept lower wages and higher unemployment to clean up an inflation problem being driven by that same corporate profiteering.
“It is time to stop protecting corporate profits and start looking after the people who actually make this country work.”