Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Let's have a look at the figures that have come out today. Today, the new figures show that economic growth in this country went backwards compared to the last quarter. I take Senator Scarr's interjection where he says that the economy is growing. The latest figures show economic growth went backwards compared to the last quarter. Annual growth is only at 1.7 per cent—barely growing at all. It still has a one in front of it, well below the government's forecast of 2.75 per cent. This government's last budget was predicated on an assumption that the economy would grow at the rate of 2.75 per cent over this financial year. It is currently running at 1.7 per cent.

The tax cuts that this government went to the election on were the centrepiece of this government's economic agenda. They were the thing that was going to get the economy moving, according to the government. Now we have the Australian Bureau of Statistics saying that the reduction to tax payable did not translate to a rise in discretionary spending or, to put in plain language, the tax cuts didn't work! The tax cuts have not got people spending money in the way that the government said that they would do, and that's reflected in the poor retail figures we see; that's reflected in a whole range of other data that shows how badly the economy is performing under this government.

That is, of course, backed up by wages, where under this government's stewardship we have wages growing at the lowest rate we have seen in Australian history. Since records began on this subject decades ago, we have never seen wages growing so poorly as they are right now under this government. It's no wonder then that the Reserve Bank has recently just made the point that lower wage rises have become the new normal. That is what the Australian people have got to thank this government for: six years of office, in its third term, and it has delivered a new normal when it comes to wages—and that is lower wage rises. Congratulations! I hope you're all giving yourselves a pat on the back, you good economic managers! You people who said that you needed to win the election to keep the economy strong, give yourselves a pat on the back! You have delivered a new normal, being lower wage rises.

That is not really any surprise, because we have had the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister Cormann, as the Minister for Finance for the last six years. The entire time this government has been in office, Minister Cormann has held the purse strings as the Minister for Finance. What he has got to show for it is economic growth going backwards compared to the last quarter, tax cuts that aren't working and the worst wages growth on record. I think Minister Cormann would be quite okay with all that, because we know that he was caught out on film saying that keeping the wages low in this country is a deliberate design feature of the government's economic policy. What kind of politician would actually get into office to deliberately keep wages low? That is the kind of attitude we have from this government, and we all know on this side of the house that that is what this government is about.

Today, Minister Cormann was asked questions about this. You would think that on another day when we have poor economic data coming out about this government you might see humility from this government. But no, not from Minister Cormann and not from this Liberal-National government, who said that it would keep the economy strong. They don't know the meaning of the word humility. Rather than being a bit humble, we see more arrogance from this government in saying, 'Everything is going hunky-dory; everything is going swimmingly; everything is going really, really well in the Australian economy.' In fact, they might as well say that Australians have never had it so good! How arrogant! How arrogant of this government that won an election, to its great surprise, and is now presiding over poor economic growth, tax cuts that aren't working and the lowest wages growth that we have ever seen. (Time expired)