Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely—people in those states have gone back into the workforce, and what that has done is enhance the labour supply in those states, and that is very good for a lot of people. There are members all around here who will have older women or older men in their electorates who are back in the workforce for the first time in a long time because the participation rate has increased in those states. At the very core of our plan to lift productivity in this economy, to combat inflation, is to lift workforce participation. That is one of the reasons why we are so supportive of the income-tax cuts which we have argued for for a long period of time, because people on modest wages do deserve some incentive. Particularly when it comes to second-income earners, we have to design an income taxation system and a transfer system which gives them incentives when they go back to work. So not only is it older workers—

See this speech in context