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

Wages are beginning to move again thanks to the government putting bargaining back in the hands of workers, which, again, those opposite opposed. You opposed the energy price relief and you also opposed sensible changes to improve the bargaining framework so that workers could get pay rises. It is no surprise after a decade of wage stagnation, a deliberate design feature of their economic architecture—let us never forget that—that wage increases were stuck at two per cent or worse. We're already seeing wages starting to move, nudging just above three per cent.

But we get that households are still doing it tough. We understand that, and the government's job is to look at where we can provide sensible cost-of-living relief without adding to inflation. That is the defining challenge as we put this budget together. The May budget will continue our focus on the cost of living, including providing that household assistance for energy bills by working with the states and territories, which you opposed. (Time expired)