Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank you for the question.

And I take the interjection from Senator Ayres. It's good that it's a question on the economy, because that's certainly what we are focused on. That's what we are focused on, and that is why you have seen, under this government, a focus on making sure we get wages moving again and a focus on making sure we deliver assistance on energy costs to households, to families and to small businesses. It's why we are focused on strengthening Medicare, and it's why we are focused on doing what we can to help Australians with their cost-of-living challenges.

Now, we understand people are doing it tough. People are finding it hard to make ends meet. People are finding it hard to pay bills, which is why we on this side supported increases in wages. And I remember being in this chamber and listening to Senator Cash and Senator Hume tell everybody why wage rises were the worst possible thing. We know throughout Australia which party is the party that supports higher wages, which party is the party that supports increases to the minimum wage and which party is the party that thinks low wages are good for the economy.

And so, Senator Birmingham, you can come in here and talk about the situation that Australians are facing, but you should be upfront with them that you actually want them to earn less. The coalition policy prescription is to make sure people work harder and earn less. That is what the Liberal policy prescription is, and they should be upfront about that. The Liberal policy prescription is also, in relation to higher energy costs, that the government should not provide assistance. That is the Liberals' and Mr Dutton's policy position.