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

I thank Senator Walsh for that question and for the focus on cost-of-living measures that the government has been putting in place over the last 2½ years. This is the government that has been working hard to get wages up and inflation down. We're strengthening Medicare and building more houses, and we can make reforms such as these because we're focused on building a stronger economy. Back-to-back surpluses and lower government debt are important indicators that we are on the right track. We're focused on reducing inflation—it's halved since we came to government—with cost-of-living policies, such as energy-bill relief, driving inflation down. We're focused on job creation, with one million jobs created in this term of parliament alone, more than any other term of parliament.

Not only do we want more people in jobs but we want them to earn a decent wage. There's certainly more to do, but wages are heading in the right direction with four quarters of wages growth after years of coalition wage stagnation. We've advocated for wages growth at every opportunity, and we've prioritised pay rises for aged-care workers and early childhood educators who had been underpaid and undervalued for way too long. We want people to earn more and keep more of what they earn, as this is the best form of cost-of-living relief. We have record levels of people working. We have record levels of women working, and the pay gap is as narrow as it's ever been. Manufacturing jobs are up. Industrial disputes are down, and the number of small businesses is up. We know there is more work to do, and we know that life is tough for many Australians right now.

That's why the Albanese Labor government has been focused on how to make appropriate investments in areas like Medicare, cheaper medicines and urgent care clinics to make sure that people are getting access to the services they need right now.