Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thought I was going to get a question about our cost-of-living tax cuts, but I got a much more general invitation into the difference that this government has made. When we came to office, inflation peaked, as a quarter, in March 2022, at 2.1 per cent—in one quarter. The latest annual inflation figure, of course, is 4.1 per cent. One of the reasons why that has occurred is by producing the first budget surplus in 15 years, turning a $78 billion deficit into a $22 billion surplus.

Of course, when it comes to cost of living, wages matter. Outside of the pandemic, the biggest drop in real wages this century occurred in—guess which quarter?—March 2022, down 1.4 per cent in one quarter. Now we have the fastest wage growth in 15 years, with real wages rising for two consecutive quarters in a row.

On jobs, we inherited a sluggish labour market. Employment growth has doubled, with around 650,000 jobs created on our watch and a record number of women in jobs and working full time. Productivity growth on our predecessor's was the worst in 40 years. Productivity rose in the September quarter by 0.9 per cent. In construction, it was 4.4 per cent. Business investment declined under them to the lowest level since the early 2000s. Business investment has grown in every quarter under Labor, up 12 per cent in real terms. Of course, under them, they had tax policy that would have seen Australians who are the lowest paid get not a single dollar. Now every Australian will get a tax cut. Eighty-four per cent of them will get a higher tax cut under us.

If they really thought their system was better, they'd be voting against it and promising to role it back. Unless they do that—and who knows? They change their position every day. It's still possible. Now they're voting for it.

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