Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, as I said to the House yesterday, CPI is higher in 2021 because it was coming off negative inflation the year prior because of particular initiatives that we undertook during COVID to cushion the blow for Australian households, including free child care, and there were lower rents and cheaper petrol. That saw the steepest quarterly fall in the consumer price index in the previous year. That therefore means that the CPI is higher than the wages price index is.

Real wages are higher today than in Labor's last year in office, underemployment is the lowest in seven years, and we've also seen youth unemployment the lowest in 12 years. The Prime Minister is absolutely right: if you want Australians to keep more of their hard-earned money, you need to support our tax cuts which we have legislated through the parliament.

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