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

Thank you to the member for Hawke for his question and for all the work that he does on behalf of his community here in this place.

Getting wages growing again is a deliberate design feature of our economic policy. That's why we do need to fix what is a broken bargaining system, which is only delivering stagnant wages—particularly for the low-paid and for industries dominated by women. It's why the budget is all about investing in skills so that we can train people for higher wage opportunities. It's about early childhood education—making it cheaper so that more parents can work more and earn more if they want to. It's about investing in the industries where we'll get the secure well-paid jobs, whether those are in areas of traditional strength or in new industries as well.

It's why we have started to make provision for the important interim wage outcome that has been announced by the Fair Work Commission for aged-care workers. And it's why one of the first decisions, if not the very first decision, of the cabinet of this new government was to support a decent minimum wage rise.

In the budget, the Treasury has now upgraded its forecast for wages growth to be 3.75 per cent this year and next. If that happens, it will be the fastest since 2012—and that would be a good thing. What we do know is that when inflation is high and rising it makes it even harder for Australians to keep up. Part of the reason for that is that for too long in this country wages have been too stagnant, and that has made it harder for people to keep up and harder for people to get ahead.

Under the life of the previous government, wages growth was just 2.1 per cent on average, compared with 3.6 per cent under the Labor government that preceded it. So, you can see that for the best part of a decade we've had wage stagnation. Nothing would make those opposite happier than another decade of wage stagnation and wage suppression. That's what they're here for. We know this because the shadow Treasurer was asked on TV why he opposed our industrial relations changes, and he said, 'Because it will push wages up'—which is kind of the point. It says it all, about the differences between the side of the House and that side of the House. We have policies and plans to get wages moving again. We want Australian workers to get a bigger slice of the action when the economy is growing. They failed on wages, and ordinary people copped it in the neck as a consequence.

So, there's a very important reason the minister for skills has been investing in skills and the ministers for education and early childhood education have been investing in cheaper child care. It's why the minister for industry has been investing in our supply chains and the industries that will secure, well-paid work. It's why the minister for aged care, working with the minister for health, has been so supportive of a decent pay rise for our aged-care workers. It's why the Prime Minister, during the campaign, and the industrial relations minister afterwards—all the cabinet—have been so supportive of a decent minimum wage rise. It's because we want to see wages growing again. You would happily see another decade of wage stagnation. (Time expired)

See this speech in context