Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today Senator Cormann has been asked questions about slow economic growth, about low household spending, about low wages growth and about an economy that is in trouble, and his answers can basically be summarised as: 'Everything's going fine. There's nothing to see here, and the economy is working just fine, thank you very much.' How insulting to the people who are doing it tough under this government's so-called economic leadership. How insulting to the people who are depending on this government to come up with an economic plan and a strong economy. How insulting to the people who listened to the government three months ago, when we saw the last set of figures of slow economic growth and when people were told by this government that things would improve next time. This is next time, and things haven't improved and that is a big problem for the people who are depending on this government to deliver a stronger economy.

The economy is not working fine for everyday Australians. The economy is not working just fine for the 1.9 million Australians who are looking for work or for more work. It is not working fine for those hardworking Australians who haven't had a decent pay rise under this government and who haven't had a decent pay rise in seven years. And the economy is not working just fine for the parents who are making tough decisions about whether to pay their bills or whether to pay their rent and making tough decisions at this time of year about whether they might be able to afford to take the family out or whether they need to save that money to spend it on Christmas presents for their children.

The Prime Minister has said that the harder you work, the better you do. People are working hard. People are working as hard as they can and, actually, it is this government that is asleep at the wheel. Let's take a look at this government's record on the economy, because their record is nothing short of lazy. During their seven years in power, this third-term government has been overseeing the worst economic performance since the global financial crisis. Let's not forget that Prime Minister Scott Morrison was the Treasurer for three years, and he is all over this economic outcome for the country. What we've seen under this government is declining living standards. We've seen household debt at record highs. Let's think about what that means for people. That means that people are struggling, they're doing it tough and they're very much at risk of going under. Under this government, we've got 1.9 million Australians who are underemployed or unemployed, at the same time as this government is proposing cuts to Newstart. We've got business investment at its lowest since the 1990s recession. We've got wages that are growing at just one-sixth the pace of profits. Along with this government's extraordinary economic management record, we've got a doubling of gross national debt, which has hit $400 billion for the first time in our history. And the most recent record is yet another quarter of slow economic growth—just 0.4 per cent in the last quarter.

Let's think about this government's record on wages. This government's record on wage growth is the worst ever of any government, and it doesn't seem like it's going to be getting any better. The governor of the Reserve Bank says that wages growth is subdued and is expected to remain at its current rate for some time yet. That statement is not very good news for the millions of Australians who are waiting for a wage rise and waiting for this economy to pick up so they can do better for their families and do better in their communities. This weak wage growth, of course, is contributing to Australia's economy woes because, when people can't get the wages they need, they can't spend in their local community, and the economy slows even further. That's the pattern we've got under this government. This is a government that has no plan except to tell struggling Australians they should just work harder.

Question agreed to.