[Source: Sheppanton News]

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pointed to Labor’s strong record in job creation while defending his government’s economic record, following criticism from a lobby group for big business.

Mr Albanese on Tuesday rejected a suggestion by Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black that the nation’s prosperity is taking incremental “steps backwards”.

“We have halved inflation since we’ve come to office, but without punishing people on the way through, whilst making sure that cost of living measures continue to be addressed,” he told reporters in Sydney.

Mr Black is set to speak at a dinner on Tuesday when he will warn the government that many CEOs believe Australia is “losing its way” in terms of economic prosperity.

“Instead of taking the big steps on the things that matter, we are taking incremental – but noticeable – steps backwards,” he will say.

Mr Black singled out the federal government’s workplace relations changes as a challenge for businesses and wants multi-employer bargaining to be abolished.

The Albanese government re-introduced multi-employer bargaining laws in 2022, allowing unions to strike deals covering more than one employer to help workers in sectors such as childcare band together for higher wages.

Mr Black said many employers were “far, far more cautious” about hiring since the government’s raft of workplace changes came into force.

Mr Albanese said job creation had been strong under those reforms, with “the clock ticking on whether we will reach one million new jobs” ahead of Thursday’s labour force data.

“We are seeing higher wages, we’re seeing continued growth, we’re seeing a continued rise in business investment,” he said.

Australia’s economy has been slowing as an expected consequence of taming inflation, yet the labour market has held on as a bright spot.

Mr Black will also aim for “populist” divestiture and tax proposals he says are prompting some of the council’s members to invest overseas rather than in Australia.

If the coalition wins the next election, it has vowed to break up the major supermarkets if they engage in anti-competitive behaviour and floated similar measures to tackle market concentration in the aviation industry.

The Australian Greens want higher taxes on corporations as part of the minor party’s “Robin Hood” reforms. Nationals MP Bridget McKenzie told Nine television on Tuesday the “economy is being smashed” by the government “and now we are having our biggest employers saying they are cautious to hire” because of Labor’s workplace laws.

The next federal election is due by May next year.