Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How is the Albanese Labor government working to get wages moving again and ensuring workers keep more of what they earn? How does that compare with previous approaches?

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

A big thank you to the member for Aston, who is helping to ensure that every taxpayer in her community and around Australia gets a tax cut—and 87 per cent of the good people of Aston will get a tax cut because of her efforts.

It's very clear in this question time what's going on. Only this side of the House cares about doing something about the cost-of-living pressures that people confront. We know what those opposite are up to. They think if they blow the dog whistle hard enough and if they cuddle up to the far right enough, that the good people of Dunkley won't recognise and won't realise that those opposite have said that they'll wind back our tax cuts, which is what the Deputy Leader of the Opposition has said. They might not care about the cost of living, but we do. We call on the opposition to stop stuffing around in the Senate and to pass the tax cuts that Australians need and deserve.

Australians are under pressure, and we'll get a sense of that in Wednesday's monthly inflation data. Those monthly numbers bounce around a bit, but the direction of travel is clear in the more reliable quarterly numbers. Inflation is moderating since its peak in 2022, but Australians are still under pressure and that's why wages growth is so important and why the tax cuts are so important as well. Our economic plan is all about ensuring Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn. What we saw in last week's data, as the minister said a moment ago, is that real wages growth is back as a feature of our economy—and ahead of schedule.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

I say to those interjecting: real wages were falling 3.4 per cent when we came to office and now they're growing again. Average wage growth under this government is now around double what it was under those opposite. That's because our policy is to grow wages and provide tax cuts for every taxpayer. Their policy was to suppress wages and to skew the tax cuts to the highest income earners. New analysis shows average weekly ordinary full-time earnings have increased $119 a week since we came to office. That same worker will get a tax cut of $2,134. That means an extra $6,188 a year for the average full-time worker.

It is now clearer than ever, as those opposite blow the dog whistle and cuddle up to the far right, they have no plan for the cost of living. This side of the house—the Labor government—are the party of higher wages and tax cuts for middle Australia because we believe people should earn more and keep more of what they earn. If those opposite had their way, inflation would be higher, wages would be lower, tax cuts would be smaller and more people would be working longer for less.