Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. What were the outcomes of the Albanese government's Jobs and Skills Summit, and how will they help address Australia's economic challenges?

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

I thank the member for Makin for his question. The reason the Jobs and Skills Summit was such a resounding success was that people were prepared to come from all parts of our economy and all corners of our country, to come together around some of the big economic challenges that we confront. People at the summit from right across the country, right across the economy and most parts of the parliament knew and understood that it is time to draw a line under the divisive decade of missed opportunities and warped priorities which have made our economy weaker and our people poorer as a consequence.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask the Treasurer to resume his seat. The Manager of Opposition Business?

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, there was no reference in the question to the record of the past government. We're 30 seconds in and he can't stop himself from getting into an attack on this side. You need to ask him to address the terms of the question, which was, 'What were the outcomes of the Jobs and Skills Summit, and how will they help address Australia's economic challenges?'

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the manager for his point of order. The question was also about the issues and the economic challenges. I call the Treasurer.

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

One of the outcomes of the Jobs and Skills Summit was drawing a line under a divisive decade of missed opportunities and warped priorities which have made the economy weaker and our people poorer. I want to thank everybody who participated in that summit, who came there not seeking unanimity but seeking common ground. We found that common ground and we are now ready to move forward together.

We wanted the summit to achieve at least three things—first of all, to bring people together around those big challenges; secondly, to agree on some proposals for immediate action; and, thirdly, to set a clear direction for future work. And that is exactly what happened. On Friday, we released an outcomes document that came from the conversations and the consensus that we achieved at the summit. At the centre of that is maintaining full employment in a way that benefits more of our people. At the centre of it was improving productivity growth at the end of the worst decade for productivity in 50 years. We came together to deal with the labour shortages and the skills shortages which are acting as a handbrake on our economy. We came together to boost wages, to get wages growing again, after a decade of deliberate wage stagnation and wage suppression. We came together to invest in the industries and in the jobs which will deliver the opportunities for our people into the future.

To help do all this, the outcomes included 36 initiatives that we are taking immediate action on, including boosting investment in fee-free TAFE, boosting the amount that pensioners can earn from work, beginning the work to repair the broken bargaining system which has been a key contributor to wage stagnation for too long and responsibly increasing the permanent migration target to address the labour shortages which are affecting all Australians. All of these areas are about responding to our economic challenges. That's what the summit was about and that's what the government is about.

At the summit, Australians saw us working together to tackle these challenges. Employers, unions, premiers, chief ministers, the Australian of the Year, the Leader of the Nationals and the crossbenchers were all prepared to seek that common ground and to have a go and not have a whinge. In that regard, the Leader of the Opposition was left out, wallowing in his own irrelevance.