Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator Watt. I am aware that Minister Burke has said that boosting and protecting wages is a key part of the government's plan to help Australians deal with cost-of-living pressures. How is the Albanese Labor government working to get wages moving for low-paid workers?

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

Thanks to Senator Walsh, who, like so many people on this side of the chamber, has devoted her working life to supporting the interests of low-paid workers. Senator Walsh knows that the Albanese government's No. 1 priority is addressing inflation and cost-of-living pressures. We know a lot of people are doing it tough, and that is why each and every day we are working to ensure that Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn. From 1 July, Labor's tax cuts for more taxpayers will help make that happen.

But the other way we can ensure workers can deal with cost-of-living pressures is to get wages moving again, to ensure that workers earn enough to provide for their loved ones and get ahead. Our workplace relations reforms are helping low-paid workers who are doing it the toughest. Today we announced that the Albanese government's submission to the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review, which impacts 2.9 million workers relying on awards, will recommend that real wages of Australia's low-paid workers should not go backwards. People with the lowest wages have least capacity to deal with rising prices, and we want to ensure that their wages keep pace. That is why we've backed in low-paid workers every year at the Fair Work Commission. What a pleasant change that occurred after the change of government. As a result of this change to the Albanese Labor government the minimum wage under our government has increased by 5.2 per cent in 2022 and 8.6 per cent in 2023. Now a full-time minimum wage worker, like a cleaner or retail worker, is earning $110 more per week since Labor took office.

We know the opposition have consistently voted against better wages, secure jobs and closing the gender pay gap, so it's no surprise that today they still can't bring themselves to support our actions. They spent 10 years keeping wages low as a deliberate design feature of their economic policy, and they're still at it today.

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

Senator Walsh, first supplementary?

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Noting that many Australians, particularly in low-paid industries like community and disability services, retail and hospitality, are feeling under the pump as a result of cost-of-living pressures, how is the Albanese Labor government helping workers in low-paid sectors earn more and keep more of what they earn?

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

How is the government helping workers earn more? It may be a novel idea to those opposite, but we are actually doing it by improving workers' pay and conditions. The Albanese Labor government's workplace relations reforms are helping low-paid workers who are doing it tough to earn more by criminalising wage theft, stopping the underpayment of workers through the use of labour hire and stopping unpaid overtime—all things that were opposed by the coalition in opposition, just as they opposed those types of changes when they were in government. Our reforms are clearly working, with average wages growing at 4.2 per cent, double the rate that occurred under those opposite. But Senator Walsh also asked me how we are helping workers keep more of what they earn, and, of course, from 1 July, Labor is delivering a tax cut for all Australian taxpayers. All 13.6 million taxpayers will receive a tax cut, and more than 95 per cent of nurses, teachers and truckies will receive a bigger tax cut under Labor.

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

Senator Walsh, a second supplementary?

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, given that low wages are a deliberate design feature of the Liberal and National economic plan, how is the Albanese Labor government working to reverse a decade of deliberate wage stagnation under those opposite?

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

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

Thanks, Senator Walsh, and don't we enjoy it when we hear the moaning over the other side every time we talk about the fact that, under Labor, you'll earn more and keep more of what you earn and, under the coalition, you'll earn less and work more. The reason they groan about it is that they're so embarrassed about their record and they're embarrassed about the fact that they still haven't worked out that it was time to shift policy when they lost the election. We know that, if this mob are ever re-elected to government, they will continue their traditional policies of keeping wages low, keeping conditions low and letting the gap between rich and poor get even wider. They have now voted against higher wages for workers more than 27 times in this term of parliament alone, and today we heard the member for New England, who we know still wants to come back as the National Party leader, continue describing pay rises for low-paid workers as window-dressing. Well, I don't think that pay rises for low-paid workers are window-dressing, and no-one on the Labor side does either. Under Labor, you'll keep more of what you earn.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. The most recent Finder RBA survey found that economists' positive sentiment across employment, wage growth, housing affordability, costs of living and household debt was at its second-lowest point in the history of Finder's RBA survey, at 10 per cent, second only to March 2020, which was at eight per cent. Meanwhile, new ABS data has revealed that, over the 12 months to December 2023, all five living-cost indexes rose by up to 6.9 per cent. Isn't it true that Australians are still worse off under Labor than they were a year ago?

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

There is no shortage of economic data that's published regularly, particularly focusing on the high inflationary environment that we inherited when we came to government in May 2022. That has had an impact on business confidence and how people are feeling. They're feeling under pressure. I don't think we've ever pretended otherwise. That's why our entire effort since coming to government has been on how to ensure that inflation comes down and that we're able to make sensible investments to ease the cost of living where we can. It's why we did the energy bill rebates that you opposed. It's why we put the caps on the gas industry, which you opposed as well. Now we're seeing some relief in that area, with prices coming back a little bit.

But we're not pretending that people aren't feeling under pressure; they are, and that's why our budgets have been focused on investments where we can afford to make them, where they're sensible, where they don't add to inflation and, in fact, where they take pressure off inflation. The energy bill rebates and the rental relief did exactly that. Where we can provide investments into child care and where we can do more in housing—we've got a massive agenda in housing to provide more social and affordable housing options for people, working with the states and territories. It's why we did our tripling of the bulk-billing rate. It's why we've opened the urgent care centres so people can get access to free or affordable health care. That's all of why our budgets have been targeted on making sure we can ease the cost of living, repair the budget, lower the debt, deliver a surplus and build up the drivers we need for future economic growth.

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

Senator O'Sullivan, your first supplementary?

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A recent report by finance research institute Mozo revealed that three-quarters of Australian mortgage holders are worried about their mortgage repayments in the face of consecutive rate hikes under this government. Why is the government ensuring rates stay higher for longer by committing to billions in new spending?

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

I don't accept that question at all. It won't be any surprise, I think, to those opposite. We have been doing what we can, where we have areas of responsibility, to work alongside the bank as they've been undertaking their tightening policy, while we have been making sure we're not adding to the work that they need to do.

I note that those opposite like to talk about this calculator they've done of spending. What they don't tell you is that the vast majority of that, a large part of that, is actually parameter variations for pensions, for JobSeeker and for other investments like that—estimates variations that I can only presume that you opposite do not support. So you don't support indexing the age pension, clearly. You don't support indexing JobSeeker. You don't support all of those areas which automatically happen to ensure that, when inflation is high, we are supporting people. (Time expired)

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

Senator O'Sullivan, second supplementary?

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since the Albanese government came to power, the cost of food is up nine per cent, the cost of housing is up 12 per cent, the cost of insurance is up 22 per cent and the cost of gas is up 27 per cent. With around 50,000 households due to exhaust their savings buffers by the end of next year due to record interest rates, how many Australians do you expect will lose their home under this government?

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

What Senator O'Sullivan doesn't say, of course, is that, for mortgage holders, interest rates started increasing under your government.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Once!

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

Right, only once! Yeah, right! When inflation was at its highest, it was under your government. It was under your government. It's actually come off every quarter since, as we dealt with the significant policy issues and areas that your government, when in power, left unaddressed—for example, the energy crisis that we walked into, where Minister Bowen left the swearing-in ceremony to deal with the fact that the lights were going to go out because what had happened? That's right—a decade of failure to deal with those significant challenges. And we see it everywhere. We see it in housing. You talk about housing. The Commonwealth wasn't interested in housing unless it was about young people ransacking their super to go and buy a house.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A point of order on relevance: in the seven seconds remaining, I'm wondering if the minister could return to the final part of my question, which was: how many Australians do you expect will lose their home this year?

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

The minister is directly relevant. Minister Gallagher?

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

I've finished my answer.