Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Green, for the question. Three years ago Labor promised to get wages moving again, and three years on the Albanese Labor government has delivered. When Australians voted out a coalition government three years ago, they had enjoyed five consecutive quarters of real wages falling, wages going backwards. And now, after three years of the Albanese Labor government, we've seen five consecutive quarters of real wage growth, wages going forwards—literally a mirror image of the coalition's policy of deliberately keeping wages low. Labor is unapologetically for working people getting ahead, and we've delivered higher wages, low unemployment and lower inflation, with interest rates now starting to come down. There is still more to do, but our changes to workplace laws mean there's more money going into people's pockets. The average Australian full-time worker is now earning over $200 a week more under Labor than they were under the coalition, and more Australians are in work than ever before.

While we're focused on growing jobs and lifting wages, all we hear from those opposite is about cutting jobs and cutting pay. Just yesterday on the ABC, I sat across from Senator Hume as she repeatedly suggested jobs should be cut from—wait for it—the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Senator Hume said, 'If it's a backlog that you're clearing in Veterans' Affairs, why do you need permanent staff now?' So, after Labor has finally cleared the backlog of 42,000 veterans claims left behind by the coalition, Senator Hume and the coalition reckon we can cut those workers again, starting the backlogs again. Despite Peter Dutton telling people there won't be frontline job cuts, his own shadow minister is out there telling us their real plan. It is becoming very clear that we can expect the same thing to happen in Australia with the 36,000 job cuts because, when Peter Dutton cuts, you pay. (Time expired)