Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

More jobs, higher wages, bigger tax cuts—that's what the Albanese Labor government is delivering for Australia. It's a fact that more jobs have been created under the Albanese Labor government than under any other first-term government on record. ABS figures show that more than 820,000 jobs have been created in our government's first two years. Unemployment remains low at 4.1 per cent, compared to an average of 5.6 per cent under the former government.

Higher wages—they are great for families and great for the economy. Our Labor government is proudly, unashamedly, absolutely supportive of higher wages for Australian workers. You will never hear a Labor MP boast that low wages are a deliberate feature of our economic architecture as the Liberals did. Since Labor came to government, the wages of minimum wage earners have increased by $7½ thousand a year—including today's 3.75 per cent increase, which we welcome. And real wages are growing again. Since the 2022 election, nominal wages have been growing at an annualised average of 3.9 per cent, compared to 2.2 per cent under the Liberals.

When it comes to bigger tax cuts, the figures speak for themselves. On 1 July, our government delivers a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer and a bigger tax cut for most. We're proud of this: more jobs, higher wages, bigger tax cuts.