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

Thank you again, Senator Ciccone. We already know that Mr Dutton, Senator Cash and all their colleagues over there are out there running scare campaigns against higher wages and more cooperative workplaces. It wasn't that long ago that we had Senator Cash out there saying Labor's workplace law changes would close down Australia. Sadly for Senator Cash, Australia is open and functioning and—you know what?—delivering higher wages and more jobs, reducing the gender pay gap and reducing industrial action all at the same time.

We also know that Mr Dutton has been telling big employers in Western Australia that he will hit Ctrl+X on his computer and cut the rights we've promised to workers and their unions. What will that actually mean for the Western Australian economy? Under this government, employment growth in Western Australia is at a record high of 3.6 per cent. Under the Morrison government it was 1.6 per cent. Wages in Western Australia have been growing faster under this government than under the Morrison government, and working days lost to industrial disputes in Western Australia have fallen under this government. (Time expired)