Linda White (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is not my first speech but it is my first question! My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Can the minister outline the findings of the Productivity Commission's inquiry 5-year productivity inquiry: key to prosperity interim report that has been released today?

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

I congratulate Senator White on her first question. Thank you. It's an honour to be the answerer of your first question.

The report out today paints a dismal picture of recent productivity growth. Over the last decade growth has been the slowest than more than a century.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Who was in power then?

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

Yes—no surprises there. Gross national income was $4,600 lower per person than what it could have been if productivity growth was in line with the long-term average. This is important because 80 per cent of income growth in the past three decades has come from productivity gains. We should not be surprised, sadly, that the past decade we've seen with real wages is largely due to the poor decade we've also had on productivity.

The report said very clearly:

Almost all sustained increases in real wages are underpinned by improvements in labour productivity growth.

Being more productive means Australians can consume higher-quality, and access new, goods and services.

Getting productivity moving again is a huge challenge that has been neglected under those opposite. It's a challenge that we take seriously, which is why Labor's economic plan is so important. Investment into the productive side of the economy, the productivity agenda, is at the heart of our economic plan—childcare reforms, skills and advanced manufacturing, and, of course, the opportunities that are going to come in the energy sector. The report is yet another scathing assessment of the former government's failure to drive reform or grab the opportunities for jobs and growth they should have, and Australians have paid an enormous price for that.

Linda White (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister advise the Senate on what has caused the slow pace of productivity growth, as outlined in the report.

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

It's very quiet over there on the opposition benches. The Productivity Commission's report states that most OECD countries—

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on both sides!

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

You should ignore me.

Honourable senators interjecting—

I don't know about that. The Product Commission's report states that most OECD countries have experienced a productivity slowdown. However, we know that the productivity challenges we face have been made worse by a decade of wasted opportunities and wrong priorities by those opposite. And there is no starker example of this than the coalition's wasted decade on energy. Their 22 different energy policies over their term in government have seen the opportunities for investment, innovation and jobs go begging. We paid the price for that. This really was the Morrison government—a government that spent more, borrowed more and delivered less, including in the productivity agenda, which has been outlined in the public release today. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator White, a second supplementary question?

Linda White (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister further advise the Senate what the government's plans are to boost productivity in the Australian economy?

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

Yes, I can, Senator White, and I thank you for the question. The Albanese government's economic plan is a plan to boost productivity, take the speed limit off the economy and create the right kind of growth. It will be a key focus of our upcoming jobs and skills summit. Our plans include: investing in cleaner and cheaper energy; better training our workforce through fee-free TAFE and more university places; investing in cheaper child care; boosting GDP through higher workforce participation; upgrading the NBN to begin capturing digital economic opportunities; and creating a future made in Australia with procurement and co-investment plans through the National Reconstruction Fund to stimulate billions of dollars in private investment. This is in line and in step with the direction of the PC's report released today.