Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Why is it important to get wages moving again, and what actions are the government taking to get wages moving again after a decade of deliberately low wages?

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

Thank you to the outstanding member for Paterson for her question. With that one question, she has asked almost as many questions as the shadow Treasurer since the budget was handed down a month ago. It was a month ago, and we've had two questions from this bloke opposite.

Every single member of this side of the House understands that wages in this country have been stagnant for too long, and we need to do what we can to get wages moving again in this country. We all have a common interest in making sure that wages grow strongly and sustainably, and that goes hand in hand with a more productive economy as well. We want strong wages, strong profits and for Australian workers to get a fairer share of our national economic success so that, when people work hard, they can get ahead and they can provide for their loved ones. That's what motivates every single member of this side of the House. That's why we want to get wages moving again in this country.

In the course of the last couple of years, a number of the peak business organisations have made a similar point about the need to get wages moving in this country. One of the defining failures of those opposite's decade in office is the fact that wages have been too stagnant for too long. We need to change that. How we go about that is obviously a matter for the government to determine and for the Senate to determine. The specific detail about how we go about this will always be contentious in one way or another, but, when we've had a decade of wage stagnation despite low unemployment and despite skills shortages, we do need to take a broad approach to getting wages moving again.

That's why, in the budget, we're funding training of people for higher-wage opportunities. That's why we're making it easier for parents to work more and earn more, as the education minister was talking about a moment ago. That's why we're investing in industries with strong, secure, well-paid jobs into the future. And that's why we are fixing a broken bargaining system: because Australians need a pay rise—working Australians deserve a pay rise—and because good wages, growing strongly and sustainably, are good for the economy as well.

Nobody would be happier than those opposite if we had another decade of wage stagnation like the one we have just seen in this country. The shadow Treasurer even admitted on Sky News that his opposition to our proposals would be because it would see wages rise in our economy. We take a different approach to this economic challenge. This is one of the defining economic challenges that we confront together as a country. We want strong and sustainable wages growth because that's good for the country and it's good for the economy, and that's what motivates us every single day.