Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government is prioritising the delivery of cost-of-living relief. This is reflected in the measures that came into effect on 1 July, including tax cuts, cheaper medicines, rent relief and the energy rebate. One of the key elements is reversing a decade of anaemic wages growth; indeed, it one of the worst decades on record. Minimum wages grew 3.75 per cent on 1 July. This will benefit 2.6 million people and, when we combine the wage rise with the tax cuts, a minimum wage earner will receive at least $38 more in their bank account per week. This is material, meaningful and much-needed relief. If you're a cleaner or a retail worker, $40 more will be going into your account every week because of the pay rise coupled with the tax cut. After a decade of wages being kept deliberately low by those opposite, workers who often perform important, difficult and unrecognised jobs in our society are finally getting some recognition and are finally getting a fairer share.

During the election campaign, those opposite acted as if the economy was going to crash if there was reasonable range growth. Minimum wage workers aren't the only ones seeing a pay rise. The 360,000 truck drivers and transport workers on enterprise agreements will see $75 extra in their accounts. What all of this means is that those workers on minimum wages in Australia, and more broadly across our economy, will earn more and they will also keep more of what they earn.