George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

As a matter of fact, Senator Cameron, that is not the trend. Over the past three years wages growth has been higher than CPI, indicating that there has been a growth in wages in both real and nominal terms, and that has been one of the key drivers in the improvements of living standards. Wages in the March quarter of 2017 are up 7.9 per cent since the September quarter of 2013. Over that period there has been an increase in the CPI of 6.3 per cent. Over the past three years wages have risen at an average annual rate of 2.1 per cent, whereas the CPI has risen at an average annual rate of 1.6 per cent.

Senator, there is no point in getting your colleague Senator Farrell to base a question that he asked me a few moments ago— (Time expired)