Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

That's why our October budget will cut the price of medicines. That's why I've instructed the ACCC to step up and maximise their surveillance of fuel markets to make sure savings in petrol prices are passed on and motorists are getting a fair deal when the excise relief comes off. It's why we're delivering long-term reforms to deal with some of those supply chain issues, to deal with the skills crisis we were left with, to lift the speed limit on the economy. That means cheaper childcare, a game-changing investment to ease the cost of living but also deliver an economic dividend. It means investing in cleaner and cheaper energy, investing in fee-free TAFE and growing the care economy, advance manufacturing and other key sectors of the economy.

The Jobs and Skills Summit was a really crucial part of this work. It focused on improving productivity. We know that grows wages. It focused on skills. It focused on breaking down the barriers to employment that too many people still face. It focused on fixing a broken bargaining system that has only delivered wage stagnation.

Again, while the government works on these serious cost-of-living pressures that Australian families face, we invited those opposite to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. They rejected that because, if they had their way, there would be another decade of the same cost-of-living pressures and wage stagnation that they've subjected the Australian people to. (Time expired)

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