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

I thank Senator Grogan for her question. It's an important one about the Albanese government's economic plan and how today, in the labour force data, we saw that 47½ thousand jobs were added to the economy in August and the unemployment rate has held steady at 4.2 per cent. This is a good outcome. We want more people in jobs, earning more and keeping more of what they earn. There have been a record number of jobs created on our watch, more than in any other term of parliament in Australia's history.

Participation rate remains high at 67.1 per cent and is at record high for women, showing that our economic plans around addressing gender inequality across the economy are also working. Our investments in early education and care, so that more women can choose extra hours if they want to, are being reflected in the participation rate. Almost 978,000 new jobs have been created under this government, and that is something that this entire chamber should celebrate because we know that having a job is so important to making sure families can keep ahead of budgets in their households.

We're also seeing inflation moderate. Again, we inherited inflation with a six in front of it. It's coming down in welcome ways. We would like, of course, to see that continue down, and we'll have the monthly CPI figures out next week. We're also seeing wages growing—again, a big contrast between this government and those when they were in government. Remember the deliberate design feature to keep wages low. That is what the opposition did. We have got wages moving again, we're delivering surpluses, and we are making sure that the budget is in much better shape.