Neoliberalism is having a tough day.
Labor politicians past and present have lined up to denounce the economic theory, a day after a union leader blasted its ability to address inequality.
"We are saying the [neoliberal] experiment has run its course," ACTU secretary Sally McManus told the National Press Club on Wednesday.
A set of ideas including free trade, privatisation and deregulation governing today's global economy, neoliberalism has been heavily criticised after the global financial crisis.
The treasurer who steered Australia through that economic meltdown, Wayne Swan, said he's been making the point about its failure for years.
"There's no question, it is failed and discredited," the Labor MP told reporters on Thursday.
"You've got bodies like the IMF who have buried and cremated it."
Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating told Fairfax that he supported some of Ms McManus' statements.
"We have a comatose world economy held together by debt and central bank money," he said.
"Liberal economics has run into a dead end and has had no answer to the contemporary malaise."
Labor senator Doug Cameron said neoliberal policies meant bigger profits for executives, but didn't serve ordinary workers.
"I've been arguing against neoliberalism all of my working life. I've been a victim of neoliberalism as an ordinary worker," he said.
"Paul Keating and Sally McManus are correct. Neoliberalism has had its day. There has to be a position where we do take forward policies that look after working people in this country."
But Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm rejected the criticism, saying the most successful societies were ones with a small government approach.
"You only have to look at which countries have done better - socialist countries or classical liberal countries?" he said.
He didn't see any empirical evidence that neoliberalism was over.
"The old argument is socialism only works until you run out of other people's money," he said.
"But classical liberal societies are far better at creating equality of opportunity."
