James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The wage system in this country is the Labor Party's wage system. The Labor Party introduced it under the Rudd-Gillard government. If things have been a disaster since then, it's the fault of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. They passed the Fair Work Act, and it hasn't changed. If the criticism is of the Fair Work Act, I welcome that criticism of the Rudd-Gillard regime and the awful fair work system that was put in place and has resulted during the last 10 years in such terrible outcomes for workers. Regrettably, the situation today, under this government, has never been worse for workers. As I outlined, there's been a dramatic collapse in real wages, as inflation is more than double the rate of wages growth. So I join on this matter of public importance in condemning the fraud that the Labor Party took the last election and I will hold them to account for that lie at the upcoming one.

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