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

They're interjecting about real wages. When we came to office, real wages were falling by 3.4 per cent. In today's numbers, real wages grew again in annual terms for the third consecutive quarter. That's because decent pay is absolutely central to our cost-of-living agenda: minimum wages up by $143 a week on our watch, a wage rise for aged-care workers and early childhood educators, four quarters of wages growth with a '4' in front of it, and annual real wages growth for the third quarter in a row.

So, on our watch: almost a million new jobs, a tax cut for every taxpayer, and two surpluses; inflation has halved and wages growth has almost doubled. They don't like to hear it. They hate wages growth. That's why wages were stagnant and workers didn't get a look-in for a decade. That's why real wages were falling. Those opposite hate wages growth, just as they hated it when rates didn't go up. They hated it when underlying inflation went down. They hated it when we gave a tax cut to every Australian taxpayer. If they had their way, wages would be lower, inflation would be higher, there wouldn't be tax cuts for every taxpayer and there'd be less help for people who are doing it tough. In this regard, they are hopelessly divided on every issue except this one: they want people working longer for less.

Under this Prime Minister and his government, Australians are earning more and keeping more of what they earn. That's what we see in today's new wages numbers, and that's why they are so encouraging and so welcome.

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