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

I might just start by making sure everyone understands what growth in real wages mean, because members of the government have been perhaps working off some old talking points, and I'd advise the whips office to recirculate the latest circumstance. You see, when inflation is at 7.8 per cent and wages growth is at 3.1 per cent, real wages are going backwards—just so you know what all that means.

Now, I concede that the December quarter wages growth has not been published yet. You might get lucky and wages growth might increase from 3.1 per cent to 7.9 per cent in one quarter and, if that occurs, yes, we will have real wages growth in our economy. If that herculean task is not performed, that means that right now and consistently since this government came to power real wages have been going backwards. So I think the government would benefit from reconsidering the number of times they've put on the record both in this House and in media interviews how spectacular their reforms have been in getting real wages moving, because they are going backwards at the moment, and my prediction from the hardworking people of this country is that we won't be seeing real wages growth when the December figure is released nor for many quarters into the future, because, regrettably, under this government, people's real wages and their wealth are going backwards. Why? It is because inflation is running at 7.8 per cent.

For those who understand inflation, it is the destruction of wealth. That is what inflation is. Inflation takes the value of something and decreases it. So, when inflation is running at 7.8 per cent, that means that the wealth of Australians is going backwards, and that hits the lowest income people in our economy the hardest, particularly retired people and people on fixed incomes. For people who provisioned for their retirement, believing that they had saved enough money to fund that retirement, when inflation is at 7.8 per cent and interest rates are much lower than that but going up, their wealth is going backwards, and that is really hurting the most vulnerable people in our community.

Now, mortgages are going up. Unfortunately, yesterday we had the ninth increase in interest rates, and what that means is that, for people who own a home and owe the bank money, when they refinance their mortgages, if they're not on a variable rate, those mortgages will go up dramatically. Property prices are also falling in nominal terms. In real terms, they're decreasing even more, because, of course, you've got to add inflation to the nominal reduction in house prices. So, in some markets, the value of your home has gone down by nearly 20 per cent while, at the same time, your mortgage repayments have doubled.

Real wages are going backwards and, of course, energy prices are the highest increasing household bill in the household budget. People are really struggling. The government had an opportunity to come in here and explain what they are going to do to address these facts and the factual situation. Instead, they talked about the previous government. Now, they're welcome to do that. They're welcome to forgo the opportunity to say what they are actually going to do to address these really significant, painful impacts on household budgets, particularly for the most vulnerable people in our society.

If you forgo the opportunity to point out how you're going to fix those challenges, then you're conceding that they will be continuing under your government. And that would be absolutely disgusting and disgraceful. If you're happy to allow real wages to deteriorate, to allow mortgages to go up and to allow the cost of living to spiral, and have no plan for it except to talk about the previous government, then a lot of the people in this country would be saying it's time for a new government. If you are so out of touch you don't understand how tough it is for people as their real wages are going down, their mortgages are going up, their wealth is decreasing and inflation is out of control, and your answer to those things is to talk about the last government, then that is your prerogative. However, the people of this country will reward you very poorly at the ballot box if you continue to ignore the serious and significant challenges that they are dealing with every day, including the increases to their household budgets.

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