Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

WART () (): I rise to speak on the matter of public importance in relation to the cost of living for Australian families and small business, and I'm delighted to do so. I'm proud to be standing with my Labor colleagues, who are being honest with the Australian people about the economic and cost-of-living challenges we are facing as a nation. I'm also proud to be standing up as part of the Albanese Labor government, which has a real plan, an economic plan that recognises these issues, many of which were totally ignored, sugar-coated, swept under the carpet or neglected during the wasted nine years of the previous coalition government.

Nine years of mess cannot be cleaned up in nine weeks. It will take time. Australians know this, but it appears that the opposition do not. In very stark contrast to the former government, we have committed to building a fairer economy and a better future for all Australians. But as we embark on this important work, we must start by being honest, open and transparent with the Australian people about our current economic circumstances—unlike the former Liberal government. This doesn't happen by hiding reports and cupboards or changing regulations until after an election. It starts with transparency and integrity.

As outlined by the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, on 28 July through his ministerial statement on the economy, Australians know their government has changed hands at a time of instability, uncertainty and volatility around the world and at home. However, Australians also know that the former government's approach has already given our country a wasted decade of missed opportunities and messed up priorities, and everyday Australians are picking up the bill. Australians are already paying too much for that in the form of high and rising inflation, falling real wages and $1 trillion of debt that will take generations to pay off without a generational dividend to accompany it. While Australia continues to outperform much of the world, we know that this doesn't make it any easier for families to pay the bills at home, but whether it be in relation to inflation or real wages, the Albanese Labor government's economic plan will respond to the growing pressures left by our predecessors on the economy.

We acknowledge the impact that high inflation is having on people's living standards. Families see this every day, whether it be at the supermarket, in pay packets, through interest rates or when the electricity bill arrives. In an environment where for many years workers have not been getting wage rises sufficient to match price rises, the Albanese Labor government is proud to stand with workers to secure better wages. In contrast, what did the coalition do in office during their wasted nine years when it came to prudent spending and financial management to help keep inflation contained? What did they do to help? The fact is that the previous government have a lot to answer for when it comes to inflation. The coalition left us with a legacy of $1 trillion in debt with literally nothing to show for it. The coalition wasted over $2 billion of taxpayer funding on French submarines that will never be built, let alone delivered. The coalition treats the Australian people with such contempt that I think that if it had actually got back in to government it would have told them that they were the super high-tech invisible kind of submarines that we could expect to have delivered to our shores. The coalition allocated $660 million towards their car park rorts program, with numerous projects revealed to have been announced via press release, not assessed and undercosted, with many projects subsequently shelved. The coalition spent almost $30 million on a piece of land for the new Western Sydney airport which was estimated to have been valued at only $3 million. We have seen tens of millions of dollars on blatant pork-barrelling through sports rorts, regional rorts and grant programs, all guided by colour coded spreadsheets. So, when the coalition talk about the cost of living, inflation and financial management, they do so with a record that is tainted by mismanagement and has no credibility, and with a record that actually fuelled inflation. The coalition should be ashamed that they were a government that spent more, borrowed more and delivered less than any other government in Australia's history. In very stark contrast, Labor's economic plan will provide for a deliberate and direct response to the growing pressures left for us in the economy.

When it comes to the cost of living, we must also talk about real wages. When it comes to real wages, I'm proud to be part of an Albanese Labor government that supports workers to secure fair pay rises. Just today my office was proud to welcome a delegation from the ACTU consisting of workers who are grateful and thankful for Labor's position on supporting real wage growth. Just last week, I was proud to have met with a delegation from the Transport Workers Union in their efforts to get safe rates across the transport industry. On this side of the chamber, we don't just talk about it; we take action.

Many of you may recall the pre-election commitment made by Anthony Albanese who committed to our government making a submission to the Fair Work Commission to support a rise in the minimum wage. I'm sure it sticks in everyone's mind because everyone can remember the dollar coin that he held up at almost every press conference. It was an announcement that was met with absolute opposition and outrage by the Liberals, who have never stood on the side of the working people and never will. Yet they have the gall to move an MPI in this chamber calling on the Labor government to take immediate action to ease the cost of living, while at the same time they oppose, and continue to oppose, every effort to raise wages for real working people. This is particularly the case for the transport sector. Rather than stand with the transport workers to maintain good wages, conditions and road safety measures, the Liberal-National coalition government, in 2016, chose to dismantle the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal—the very measure designed to keep our roads safe and workers paid fairly. Shame!

The hypocrisy of those opposite is a disgrace. Every time they're in government, they attack workers. Whether it be Work Choices under John Howard, abandoning our proud Victorian automotive manufacturing sector under Tony Abbott or excluding dnata transport workers from JobKeeper, workers are always under attack by the Liberals. When it comes to real wages, the former coalition government also did nothing to help workers secure fair pay rises. Under the coalition government, real wages growth over the past decade has averaged just 0.1 per cent. Under the last 12 months of the Morrison government, real wages went substantially backwards. Any grade prep can tell you that, when you've got the cost of living rising by 3.5 per cent in 2021 and wages rising by just 2.3 per cent, that's a pay cut. Good, secure work should pay the bills, but, for too many, it's simply not the reality. There are 1.7 million Australians either unemployed or looking for more hours. Real wage growth relies on moderating inflation and getting wages moving again. Based on current forecasts, real wages are expected to start growing again in 2023-24. There is a key difference now. Australian workers now have a Labor government with an economic plan to boost wages, not to deliberately undermine them.

Another issue Labor is serious about tackling, which the Liberals did nothing about, is the gender pay gap for women. Our country has a gender pay gap that sits at 13.8 per cent. For First Nations women, when you compare that with non-Aboriginal men, it sits at 37.2 per cent. This government—the Albanese Labor government—will lead a national push to help close the gender pay gap and increase the pay for women workers, particularly those in caring jobs, by strengthening the capacity of the Fair Work Commission to order pay increases for workers in low-paid female-dominated industries; legislating so large companies will have to report their gender pay gap publicly; prohibiting pay secrecy clauses and giving employees the right to disclose their pay, if they want to; and taking action to address the gender pay gap in the Australian Public Service.

Labor's economic plan is a deliberate and direct response to the growing pressures left for us in the economy, beginning with budget repair for the trillion dollars for debt so waste and mismanagement doesn't grow bigger and bigger for future generations. The PM says we've got two ears and one mouth for a reason, so maybe those opposite should listen a little bit more when I say we are going to strengthen Medicare and create secure jobs. We are going to make child care cheaper. We're going to make more things in Australia. That's how you ease the cost-of-living pressures for Australian workers. They have done nothing but kick Australian workers when those workers are on their knees. We're a government that's going to— (Time expired)