In particular, he argues that the increasingly prohibitive cost of servicing a mortgage is a major reason for the shrinking of the middle class.

"Correctly – and importantly – this report presents each of these measures as economic levers," Mr Shorten says in speech notes distributed by his office.

"[They are] drivers and creators of growth – not social programs paid for by growth," he says.

"This is the big policy shift all of us need to keep pushing because there is the deadweight of dogma and the active resistance of vested interest to overcome.

"Fairness is a growth strategy, not a growth dividend."

Mr Shorten says fairness and inclusion is "about investing in lifting people back into work, in supporting their full participation in our economy and our society".

"At a time when, around the world, extremists and demagogues from every point of the political compass are yelling that our system is broken, that democracy has failed, that it's time to tear it down and start again, it has never been more important to prove to the people who feel forgotten, left out and left behind that they have a stake in society."

Recognise the insecurities


Mr Shorten says politics has to recognise that "existing insecurities and frustrations are not imagined, or insignificant".

"Millions of Australians are working harder and longer than they did a decade ago – but have less to go around each week.

"It's no wonder there are concerns about flat consumer confidence, and falling purchasing power."

The Labor leader says the issue of housing affordability "is not going away".

"As this report points out, the cost of the average house here in Sydney is now more than 12 times the median annual income.

"A major reason for the shrinking of middle-class disposable income is the growth in the cost of servicing a mortgage.

"Yet you have a government persisting with a policy that actively pushes the price of housing beyond the reach of middle-class and working-class families."

Mr Shorten will say the government is "spending more taxpayer money on discounts for property speculation than Australia spends on infrastructure, childcare or higher education".