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

I thank Senator O'Neill; I acknowledge her length of service in the economic portfolio and all the achievements she has made there.

This is an important question, and an opportunity to update the Senate on global conditions impacting Australian households. Last week, the OECD released its updated outlook and it outlined some of those tough challenges ahead. The report showed that the global economy is experiencing the most profound energy crisis since the 1970s, while also dealing with the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia's war in Ukraine is driving significantly higher energy prices all around the world. In the report, the OECD is predicting global growth to slow from 3.1 per cent 2.2 per cent next year.

We know that the economic pressures coming at us from around the world are felt most acutely around the kitchen table. Australian households are more exposed to these global conditions than they should be, due to the wasted decade of the Liberal and National government's policy failures. While the government cannot control many of the global pressures that will impact on Australian households, we are working to clean up the mess left behind by those opposite and to take control of what we can. We're responding to the legacy of a wasted decade in energy, in skills, in productivity and in real wages growth. We're taking a responsible approach; that's why our budget was the most responsible budget in years, returning 99 per cent of the tax revenue upgrades over the next two years to the budget in comparison with the Liberal and National average of around 40 per cent. This is responsible budget management which puts no extra pressure on inflation. We are absolutely determined to get wages moving because we know that a strong economy has to mean strong wages for workers, otherwise the economy is not delivering for the working people like it needs to.