Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the effervescent Senator Lightfoot for his question and I note his ongoing interest and longstanding commitment to ensuring that Australians have a place in which to work so that they can have more job opportunities and enjoy higher wages.

I am pleased to report to the Senate that, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the take-home pay of Australian workers rose by 4.1 per cent in the past year—that is, at a rate above the annual inflation rate. In other words, wages are still increasing in real terms. More tellingly—and those on the other side might want to listen to this—in the June quarter, wages of Australian workers grew by an average of 1.1 per cent. That is, during the months of April, May and June, the wages of workers grew by 1.1 per cent. That figure is of more than usual interest to the people of Australia. Guess when Work Choices came into being? Work Choices came into being on 27 March.