Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. What does today's Fair Work Commission decision mean for the workers of Australia, and how does the Albanese Labor government's response defer to the previous approaches?

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

I'm very grateful to the member for Holt for her question. She has spent her entire working life championing the cause of the low paid in this country, and I acknowledge that work. We welcome the decision of the Fair Work Commission to increase minimum wages by 3.75 per cent. This is the real wage increase that low-paid workers need and deserve. This is a win for 2.6 million workers and their loved ones. This means workers on the minimum wage get an extra $33.10 a week and $1,721 more per year. This means more money in the pockets of our lowest paid workers and more help with the cost of living.

Under this Prime Minister and his government, the minimum wage has now increased by $143 a week and $7,452 a year. This is on top of the bigger $870 tax cut that will flow from next month as well. Those opposite wanted no tax cut for those workers. They wanted lower wages for these workers. They want Australians to work longer for less—

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

The Treasurer will pause. The member for Casey has been interjecting right throughout question time in every question. He will leave the chamber under 94(a).

The member for Casey then left the chamber.

There is no excuse for continual interjections for every single question and answer. We're starting off the week on a strong foot.

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

He should be careful, or Josh Frydenberg might be in his seat when he gets back! Our economic plan is all about helping people earn more and keep more of what they earn. We see decent wages as part of the solution to the cost-of-living challenge, not part of the problem. It's why we're getting wages moving again. It's why we're fighting inflation. It's why we're delivering a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer. Real wages were falling when we came to office, and now they are growing again. Nominal wages have been growing almost twice as fast under us as they were growing under those opposite. They've grown faster than four per cent annual for three consecutive quarters now, and that didn't happen once under those opposite, when they were pursuing a policy of deliberate wage suppression, which gave us a decade of wage stagnation, a defining feature of their economic mismanagement.

We know people are still under pressure and the economy is soft. Treasury's forecasts anticipate weak growth in our economy, and we expect to see that in the national accounts on Wednesday. That's why our budget is about helping people with the cost of living and getting the budget in better nick without smashing the economy. A slash-and-burn budget would have been dead wrong in these circumstances, when growth is soft and people are already hurting. That's why our balanced approach and our responsible economic management is bang on. It fights inflation. It takes weak growth into account. It gets wages growing again, and it puts people front and centre. That's why today's decision to ensure our lowest paid workers don't go backwards is so welcome.