Page 37 - ETU Journal Autumn 2017

WHEN THE STUPID ELITE
MEMBER BENEFIT > FREE WILL
MANAGE THE ECONOMY
THE STATISTICS
he latest data on the management of the Australian economy under the Liberal Government shows that wealth is
dramatically increasing to the rich, while the incomes of workers and households are dramatically falling.
The alarming data showing the hastening trend of growing inequality is being buried in the mass media. Here are some of the most informative statistics, which tell the true picture.
15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0% -0.5%
FALL IN WAGES AND MASSIVE RISE IN PROFITS
WORKERS ARE DIRECTLY SACRIFICING AND SUBSIDISING THE HUGE GROWTH IN BUSINESSES PROFITS AUSTRALIA WIDE, BUT MOST OF ALL IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR.
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Company Profits Wages Growth
2008 2009
2010 2011
CONSTRUCTION HAS BEEN ESPECIALLY HIT
By the end of 2016:
Profits surged a massive 20% while wages fell by half a per cent.
The fall in wages followed
record low growth in wages in 2016.
Construction businesses had the largest profit surge of any sector – with profits up by 32%.
This data shows that workers are directly sacrificing and subsidising the huge growth in businesses profits Australia- wide, but most of all in the construction sector.
CONSTRUCTION CONGLOMERATE COMPANIES – SKYROCKETING PROFITS
To put the scale of this movement into perspective, the data showed that the construction sector generated $8.6 billion in profit in the December quarter alone. By comparison, at the same time Australia’s mining industry generated only $3.6 billion profit.
A snapshot of the companies making these excessive profits in construction include:
BORAL
23%
Increase in half- year profit to $137 million, up 23%
CIMIC GROUP LEIGHTONS
12%
Profits were up 12% to $580.3 million net profit for 2016 and they project a further profit increase in 2017 of 21%
LEND LEASE
12%
Profits were $394 million in 2016, up 12%
STOCKLAND
51%
Stockland had a first-half profit rise of $696 million, up 51%.
Data sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics: Wage Price Index, Australia. Cat. No. 6345.0; Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, CAT6302.0 & National Accounts CAT No. 5206. JP Morgan: Company profits. Construction companies annual reports and profit updates.
www.etuvic.com.au
THE ETU > AUTUMN 2017
37
GREeD
WtF!