John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It is a word that Sir James Killen would be familiar with: it compares ‘magnificently’ with the performance of the former government. Over 13 years of Labor government, the real wages of Australian workers increased by a miserable 0.3 per cent—13 years of Labor equals 0.3 per cent; 10 years of the coalition equals 16.8 per cent. I can only say again, as I have said before in this place, that, when we last faced the Australian people—and I had the opportunity of addressing a rally in Western Sydney—I had no prouder boast than to say to them that, under this government, more had been done for the working men and women of this country than any Labor government had ever dreamt of. It used to be the party of the workers. It used to be the party that looked after the interests of working men and women, but when it was last in office it boasted about the fact that it had suppressed real wages. By contrast, this government has presided over higher real wages, higher levels of employment, sharply lower interest rates, lower levels of taxation and higher numbers of apprentices.

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