More than three in four Australians want the government to spend public money on contractors who will create good, secure jobs rather than just choosing the cheapest option.

The results of a poll conducted by Calderon last week for the ACTU shows that Australians are behind one of the key recommendations of the peak body’s jobs policy released today.

The Jobs You Can Count On strategy identifies the course Australia must take to ensure that working people have good, secure jobs into the future. Calderon polled 1477 people on whether they would prefer that a government chose contractors that guaranteed well-paid, secure jobs, even if it meant higher costs.

1158 respondents said that this was preferable to a cheaper option that created insecure work. The report sets out a comprehensive, consistent strategy to improve both the quantity and quality of work: creating new jobs, lifting pay, enhancing the security and conditions of employment, and ensuring access to decent work for all Australians.

Australia must move to a more even playing field by updating our industrial laws to reflect the reality of the modern workplace and labour market – we must change the rules to put working people’s needs on par with business profits.

We must promote and encourage local industries that provide good, secure jobs, rather than relying on a failed model of trickle-down economics. This means maximising job opportunities for locals and investing in industries that train and employ local workers.

And we must fight gender inequality, marginalisation and discrimination so that people who have the toughest time getting good secure jobs have a fair shot.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Secretary Sally McManus:

“We need good, secure jobs – jobs we can count on. The Turnbull Government has the power to make choices that create those jobs, but so far they have chosen insecure jobs for working people.”

“All across our country – and especially outside the larger cities – people are crying out for good secure jobs, and the Turnbull Government is making choices that ignore their needs.”

“The Turnbull Government can choose spend public money to create good, secure jobs on publicly funded projects, but so far they’ve chosen the cheapest option.

“They Turnbull Government could choose to invest in services, but so far they’ve made more than 18,000 people jobless since Tony Abbott took office.

“Our Jobs You Can Count On strategy maps out a course to a better, more inclusive, more prosperous country where wealth is more fairly shared and where people have good, secure work.

“We challenge the Turnbull Government and industry to embrace our plan for Jobs You Can Count On and move towards more decent, secure and equitable employment.”