Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Sheldon, who, along with many senators on this side of the chamber, including our new senator, Senator Darmanin, has spent his working life standing up for working people in this country. Under Labor people are earning more and keeping more of what they earn. We are delivering for every Australian because we are a government for all Australians. Today it is seven days until 1 July. And why does that matter? Because it's seven days until every Australian taxpayer gets a tax cut, it's seven days until our $300 energy bill relief begins, and it's seven days until 2.6 million low-paid workers get their third consecutive pay rise backed by this government.

We are providing cost-of-living support while putting downward pressure on inflation. We're also strengthening the food and grocery code for a fair go for families and farmers. Unlike the opposition, we believe that strong wages growth is a key part of providing cost-of-living relief. We have closed loopholes that undercut wages and working conditions for working Australians. We've modernised our bargaining system to get wages moving again, especially for those in feminised industries. We've backed in pay rises for workers on the minimum wage and awards at the Fair Work Commission three times since coming to government. Because of the Albanese government's wages, wage growth is above the rate of inflation at 3.6 per cent over the year, which is expected to continue. The gender pay gap is also at a record low of 12 per cent. Almost 880,000 jobs have been created under this government, around 250,000 of which were full-time jobs for women. Of course, that contrasts with the previous coalition government, which kept wages low as a deliberate design feature of their economic architecture. The coalition never once backed in pay rises for minimum wage and award earners, and now, in opposition, the coalition has voted against almost every one of our workplace relations measures to ease cost-of-living pressures for Australians.