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

My question is to the Prime Minister. How can Australians trust this government's claim that his industrial relations changes will boost wages when this government, in its eighth year, has only presided over flatlining wages?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The shadow Trevor—shadow Treasurer—seems to be—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm terribly sorry; I mispronounced the shadow Treasurer's name! That must be such an offence to him! He is so precious. This is the same shadow Treasurer who cried in Kevin Rudd's office when he was a member. We know how sensitive he is.

Coming back to this serious issue—not the ego of the member for Rankin, which has its own reputation—our industrial relations reforms are about getting Australians back into jobs. Our industrial relations reforms are about ensuring the businesses that employ eight out of 10 Australians have the confidence and ability to go forward and keep employing Australians. These businesses are the ones that have stood by their employees through the course of this great recession of 2020 that was caused as a result of COVID-19, which still remains a mystery to the shadow Treasurer. These industrial relations reforms are supported by the many other changes that were made in the budget and prior to that, whether it was the JobTrainer program—

Dr Freelander interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Macarthur will cease interjecting.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

or the expanded infrastructure works that the Deputy Prime Minister has overseen to ensure we're supporting the Australian economy and getting Australians back into work. All of these things go together to support jobs and the wages that Australians rely on.

It may be a mystery to those opposite that there has been a COVID-19 pandemic this year, but it has never been lost on this government as we've worked together with all of those who were prepared to join with the government in good faith to ensure that we could support Australian jobs. That's what it's about this day and age in response to COVID-19. The Labor Party may want to return to the old fights of the past, but we didn't come here to fight. That's the great ambition of the Leader of the Opposition, not to run a government but to come here and fight. I've come here to fix. One of the biggest things we've been fixing is the absolute mess we inherited from those opposite.

The other thing we've been seeking to fix is the terrible damage that has been done to the Australian economy as a result of COVID-19. That comeback is on, the recovery is underway and we are building for the future. I know as I move around this country, as so many of my colleagues do, that Australians know that in May of last year they made the right call. They know if they'd made the alternative call what this last year would have looked like under the economic management of the Labor Party. We thank them for that trust. (Time expired)