Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator O'Neill, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) acknowledges that:

  (i) Liberal Governments across the country are causing inequality to increase in Australia by failing to deal with record low wage growth,

  (ii) this has meant that the standard of living of workers and their families has been seriously eroded,

  (iii) the capacity of hardworking men and women to protect and improve wages and working conditions is now diminished, and

  (iv) the failure of the system has left unions, such as the NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union, limited in their capacity to fight for their members and protect community safety, decent wages and fair working conditions; and

(b) calls on the Liberal Party of Australia to prioritise the wages and job security of hardworking Australians.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Due to the strong economic framework provided by this coalition government, over 400,000 jobs were created in 2017—a record for a calendar year. Three-quarters of these jobs were full-time. The Reserve Bank of Australia governor recently stated the improved labour market will lead to higher wages growth and the MYEFO forecast wage growth to pick up to 2.75 per cent to the June quarter in 2019. This government does not believe that giving unions more power to cripple public services through an unrestricted ability to strike, as Labor proposes, will help any Australian into a job or increase wages.

Question agreed to.