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

Thank you, Senator O'Neill—one of the many champions of job creation on this side of the chamber. I note that there are now around 990,000 reasons why the opposition is unhappy over there. That's the number of extra jobs that have been created in Australia since the Albanese Labor government came to office. Nearly 990,000 new jobs created—the most in a single parliamentary term, in any government's history, in our country.

We know that there's still a lot more work to do. We know that many Australians are doing it tough, but one of the best ways that we can help Australians deal with cost-of-living pressures is by helping them into work. That's exactly what we're doing, with total employment in Australia now standing at a record high of 14.5 million jobs. Unlike those opposite, the Albanese Labor government has been focused on creating good jobs—jobs that give people enough hours to meet their needs and jobs with pay rises and better conditions.

Isn't it interesting—the notion of good jobs is something that the opposition all chime in about. They've been basically asleep all of question time, wishing they could just get back to their homes, but the minute we talk about good jobs for Australians that's what fires them up—because we know that's not what they need. The latest ABS data shows that Australians aren't moving into just any jobs—