Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

(—) (): I'll have to go back and look at it. I remember the governor making comments about wanting to see wage increases with a three in front of them. My recollection is he said that at a time when inflation was sitting below three per cent, probably in the order of 1.7 per cent. My recollection of that is that the governor was saying that wages were a handbrake on the economy, or slow wages growth was a handbrake on the economy, and he wanted to see them get moving. We are now, of course, in a different environment, and I've only had a short opportunity to look at Governor Lowe's remarks in his speech today. But I think that in his speech he went through that and explained. I think he used the word 'surprised' around the increase in the rate of inflation, and he certainly went through the unexpected nature of that inflation surge and some of the reasons behind that in detail. I think his record on wages has been— (Time expired.)