The Coalition Government’s ninth Federal Budget on 29 March will be an election Budget. Against the backdrop of a cost of living crisis, join ACTU President Michele O’Neil as she looks beneath the likely hype to talk about what will really matter for workers. Michele O’Neil will be in conversation with Greg Jericho, Labour Market and Fiscal Policy Director at the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work. Hosted by deputy director Ebony Bennett, only on Australia Institute TV

Michele O’Neil
President, Australian Council of Trade Unions
Michele is the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. She began her working life as a waitress, went on to work in the community sector with homeless young people and to then work in the clothing industry. Before being elected as ACTU President in 2018, Michele represented workers in the textile, clothing and footwear industry as an organiser and then Branch and National Secretary of the TCFUA (Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia). She represented her union Nationally and Internationally and led campaigns to win world leading rights for workers throughout clothing supply chains. A model of supply chain accountability for workers which increased pay and conditions for some of Australia’s most exploited workers. Following the amalgamation of the TCFUA and the CFMEU Michele was CFMEU Vice President.

Greg Jericho
Labour Market and Fiscal Policy Director, Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute
Greg Jericho is Labour Market and Fiscal Policy Director at the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work. Greg is regular Guardian columnist, where he writes on economics and politics. He is a former public servant and author of the book The Rise of the Fifth Estate: Social Media and Blogging in Australian Politics.

Ebony Bennett
Deputy Director, The Australia Institute
Host of the Australia Institute’s popular ‘Economics of a Pandemic’ webinar series and Follow the Money podcast, Ebony has worked in federal politics for more than a decade. She has published research on climate change, gender and street harassment, regularly appears as a commentator on ABC and Sky News, as a contributor for The Guardian and columnist for the Canberra Times.