We live in the greatest country in the world, but with a better government Australia can be even greater. We can aim higher and strive for more.

We have all suffered during the past few years of pandemic, bushfires, floods and economic uncertainty.

But Australians have been magnificent. We've looked after each other. We've pulled together, anchored in our sense of community and our determination not to be beaten down by adversity.

In the future, we must hold firm to this sense of community and work together to create a better future.

That's the approach behind Labor's election campaign - building a better future, where no one is left behind and no one is held back.

We want a better future where jobs are plentiful and secure and where strong and prosperous businesses reap the rewards of their enterprise and create even more jobs.

We want a better future where Australians can access the skills training they need to find good, secure jobs instead of being reliant on multiple and unreliable casual jobs to make ends meet.

A better future means being able to find a doctor when you need one, wherever you live. It means older Australians being able to access affordable, safe aged care when they need it - and being treated with respect and dignity.

We live in that part of the world which is experiencing the fastest economic growth in human history. Huge opportunities are beckoning if we have the courage to seize them.

We have the opportunity to become a renewable energy superpower and use clean, cheap, renewable energy to drive a revival of Australian manufacturing in our cities and our regions. Australia can once again be a nation that makes things. We must rebuild our self-sufficiency, particularly when it comes to critical supplies like vaccines, PPE and medical equipment. We must train Australians for the jobs of the future. We need to identify critical areas of skills shortages and make sure our TAFEs and universities are working to fill those gaps.

The Government's budget only provided short-term relief which ends once the election is over. Right now, Australians know the price of everything is going up, but their wages aren't. The cost of living is increasing by 3.5 per cent a year. But wages are growing by only 2.3 per cent. That's not good enough.

But it is also no surprise. In 2019, then Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said low wage growth was a deliberate feature of the Government's economic policy.

Labor will campaign in coming weeks with a positive and forward-looking agenda. Across health, education, training, the environment, communications and the full range of policy areas, we will outline ideas to take this nation forward.

We'll create a national anticorruption commission. We'll embrace the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including a Voice to the parliament.

And most importantly, we will seek to unite the country, rather than look for division.

If I am privileged to become Prime Minister, I will work with business, unions, premiers, mayors and civil society in a spirit of co-operation.

I am proposing solutions to the challenges which lay ahead. I want outcomes that serve the national interest.

That is how you build a better future.
 
This opinion piece was first published in The Daily Telegraph on Sunday, 10 April 2022.