Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

We now have the change from what was predicted by those opposite, with their spokesperson Senator Cash, when they predicted that our reforms would close down Australia. What have we seen? When you no longer have low wages as a deliberate design feature of how you manage the economy, what happens? Wages, which under them were tracking, on average, at 2.1 per cent, are now at four per cent—two consecutive quarters of real wage growth. We're making sure that people earn more and keep more of what they earn. This government has delivered pay rises through two consecutive submissions to the annual wage review; minimum standards for the gig economy, now law; minimum standards for road transport, now law; job security for casuals, now law; the labour hire loophole closed, now law; wage theft as a crime, now law; banning pay secrecy clauses, now law; and sunsetting those zombie agreements I referred to yesterday, now law.

But, in response, those opposite have made a promise—promised from the very person who might not be able to get a question but occasionally stands up to withdraw his interjections, the shadow Treasurer. No-one asked him to use this word, but on the weekend he said their package of repeals would be 'targeted'. We all know exactly what the word 'targeted' meant—targeted against your wages, targeted against your job security, targeted against your safety at work, targeted against measures to close the gender pay gap. The Leader of the Opposition confirmed on the weekend that they're targeting your time off. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition confirmed right from the start that they'll be targeting your tax cuts. And the shadow Treasurer has confirmed that they're targeting your pay and security—a party over there that wants people to work longer, for less.

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