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

What a great addition the member for Swan is to our team, from the great state of Western Australia. The member for Swan knows, and we know, that Australians are under pressure. But, more than acknowledging that fact, we are doing something about it, and three facts go to this.

When we came to office, real wages were falling at almost 3½ per cent. Now they're growing again. Inflation in quarterly terms was 2.1 per cent when we came to office; it's now 0.6 per cent. When we came to office, monthly inflation had a six in front of it; now it has a three in front of it. We'll get another monthly figure tomorrow. The monthly figures, as we know, are a bit less predictable, a bit more volatile and a bit less reliable than the quarterly figures. Whether the number ticks up a little bit or ticks down a little bit tomorrow, the direction of travel is very clear. We know that inflation is down substantially since its peaks in 2022, but we know that people are still under pressure. We know that we're making welcome and encouraging progress in the fight against inflation, but inflation is still higher than we'd like. That's why our approach to inflation and to wages is so important.

We don't have an inflation problem in our economy because the lowest paid Australians are earning too much. We see decent wages growth as part of the solution to cost-of-living pressures, not part of the inflation problem. That's why we think cost-of-living help and tax cuts should be in addition to, not instead of, a decent pay rise for minimum wage workers.

Our cost-of-living policies are designed to put downward pressure on inflation. The ABS says we took about half a percentage point off inflation last year as a consequence of our cost-of-living policies that those opposite voted against.

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