Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by positing somewhat of a rhetorical question: do you think it's fair and reasonable that citizens of a progressive and developed country should expect that their government provides them with the minimum standard of living? Is it reasonable that Australians should expect that their children have access to quality public education, that they have quality health care, that they get a fair day's wage for a fair day's work, that they have a secure job and a decent pension and that they get to share in the economic prosperity of our nation? I think it's fair. I think, yes, it is reasonable and it is fair. It is the true mark of a good government that it delivers an economy that works for all Australians, for everyday Australians. When it comes to the living standards of everyday Australians, on every measure of what that means, this government has failed tremendously.

What are those measures? I'll start by saying that living costs have outstripped wages growth by 2.9 per cent. Since 2013, living standards have gone backwards by 1.2 per cent compared to a 7.6 per cent increase when Labor was last in power. Wages have been stuck at the lowest rates on record, growing at just 2.1 per cent since 2013 and by less than two per cent for much of the last couple of years. Real wages have increased by a meagre 1.3 per cent in the last five years to June 2018 compared with a nine per cent increase in the previous five years under Labor. And household debt is now above 120 per cent of the GDP, the second highest in the developed world.

I could go on with statistics and numbers and figures, but, to be quite honest, numbers and figures don't mean anything to the everyday Australian out there. Let me instead talk about what this means for the people of Australia and for the people in my electorate of Cowan. Occasionally on a Friday I like to head down to the local pub to have a tall glass of water and a chat with some of the people in the pub and ask them: 'What are the issues that matter to you? What's life like for you at the moment? What are the things that you're worried about? What are the things that you love about Australia and what are the things that you wish you could change?'—those key issues. Was it the legislating of Australia Day that they talked about with their mates around the barbecue? And what about the Prime Minister's announcement to fund his Captain Cook fixation? Neither of those were key issues, no. The first and most common response I get is, 'Who is the Prime Minister and what happened to the other bloke, Malcolm?'

What matters to them is that they have not been paid. As subcontractors, they have to try to make ends meet as they wait for late payments from builders and other people who have hired them. Many subcontractors have had to fold up their businesses and are now looking for work. What matters to them is that their penalty rates have been cut and they can't get secure full-time work. What matters is that everything costs more, but their wages aren't keeping up. What matters is that their standard of living has been deteriorating. They know it and they hold this government accountable. There's been a lot of talk about a shift away from the LNP government as a protest vote. Let me tell you, when I'm out there talking to the people of Cowan, it's not a protest vote because of the disruption and disarray that we've seen over the past few months; it's actually because of this government's failed policies and their inability to deliver for everyday Australians.

But we here in Labor we take a different approach. While the five years of Liberal cuts have damaged the economy—and their instability has made it worse—we on this side want to grow the economy. We want to ensure that growth is inclusive, and that every Australian shares in our prosperity and feels like the economy is working for them. So we have a plan, and our plan is about fixing schools and hospitals and looking after low- and middle-income Australians—the kinds of guys that I go and have a chat with at the pub every now and then. We're making record public investments in early childhood, public schools and hospitals. Bigger tax cuts for middle-income workers will deliver them a $928 injection every year. (Time expired)

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