Wages
Transcript
Date: 12 September 2023
Ms WARE (Hughes) (15:34): I rise to speak on this matter of public importance, and I thank the member for Hume for bringing it. Australians have seen a collapse of real wages under this government. I've just heard the member for Perth talk about everything but the collapse of real wages that has occurred under his watch and under the watch of all of those opposite. In simple terms, a collapse in real wages means that prices are increasing at a greater rate than income and wages. While the member for Perth spoke a lot about IR and closing-the-loopholes legislation, and he spoke about childcare workers and aged-care workers, childcare workers and aged-care workers in my electorate know that every time they go to the supermarket, every time they fill up their car, every time they pay their rent, every time they pay their mortgage, it is costing more and more. It is taking up a far greater proportion of their take-home pay. That is what this MPI is about.
If those opposite don't believe the member for Hume, they can maybe have a good look at what happened last week with their own national accounts, which revealed that we are now in a per capita recession. What that means is that we've now had two quarters where growth per person is negative. Productivity has gone backwards. Outside of the pandemic, this is the first per capita recession we've had since the mid-2000s. That has happened after only 12 months of this Albanese Labor government. Economic output per person in this country is going backwards under this government. That is what's being felt on the ground. That's what we are all hearing from Australian families and from Australian businesses. It's what families and businesses in my electorate are telling me every day.
The real concern here is that this is not just a bad economic position that Labor has put Australians in. It's not just an economic issue. It's not just a financial issue. It's a very personal issue and it's a social issue. In particular, I draw the attention of those opposite to Suicide Prevention Australia's recent report State of the nation in suicide prevention. It states that the most significant risks to suicide rates over the next 12 months are cost of living and personal debt. And that can be sheeted home to this government.
This government has not got control of inflation. It has left everything to the Reserve Bank of Australia, which has at its disposal a very blunt instrument—that is, to increase interest rates. Twelve interest rate increases have occurred under this government.
We heard from Anthony Albanese, when he was campaigning, that Australians would be better off under this government. Australians are not better off under this government, and Australians now know that they are not better off under this government. The evidence is there when we see productivity declining and real wages going backwards. This demonstrates that this is an economy under strain after a year of inaction on inflation under Labor. When Labor talk about challenges on the global horizon and blame events overseas or try to distract the country with events here, that is simply not good enough. It is not an adequate excuse for a lack of an economic growth agenda. It is not an excuse for their failure to address inflation. This government has an excuse for everything; it's events overseas or it's something else internally. It has excuses but no plan at all.
I hear those opposite. So what do you say when Lifeline, for example, is reporting that 80 per cent of its calls now relate to cost-of-living pressures? That is something that has happened on your watch. This is on your watch. Real wages have fallen significantly under those opposite. They need to come up with a plan to address inflation and increase productivity.