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

People have a government that argues for the minimum-wage workers to get a wage increase. Remember those submissions that your government didn't actually support? We supported a wage increase for aged-care workers: 15 per cent. We not only supported it but funded it, making a real difference. So, yes, the analysis is correct. This government takes wages and wage increases seriously, unlike yours, which kept them deliberately low for the past decade. That's what working people got: a decade of wage stagnation, because that is the economic architecture that you put in place. As inflation moderates and wages grow, we will see real wage growth. The budget was published six months ago; I'm surprised you've just cottoned onto it.