Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Science) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, bracket creep at the high end. Bracket creep for bankers is what they're interested in, not for workers. So we have this situation and it's a real problem.

Later on in the government's own budget it talks about the international outlook. If I can find it—I did leave myself some things. This is the problem with the modern economy, and the member for Corangamite should listen to this:

Labour market conditions are tightening, especially in Japan, Germany and the United States—unemployment rates are at multi-decade lows.

Despite stronger labour markets and a pick-up in overall economic performance, wage growth and inflation have remained largely subdued.

Why is it subdued? I'll tell you. In America it's subdued because they'll never give the working man or woman a pay rise. That's why it's subdued. If you try and organise in a trade union over there you get busted. You lose your job. That's what happens. Union activists are regularly sacked. In this country we have a situation where exactly the same things are happening. People are getting stuck into the minimum wage and getting stuck into penalty rates. This is a matter of government policy, with the anti-trade union rhetoric of those opposite. Yet they have the temerity and gall to build their budget forecasts on some magical lift in wages growth. Well, it's not going to happen for ordinary working people unless government policy supports it. That's why we need a Labor government.

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