Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to talk about wage growth. But, before I start, I must say: if you don't have a job, it's absolutely meaningless to talk about wage growth. The Morrison government is a government that understands the importance of empowering Australian men and women to be able to raise themselves up. We understand that the Australian people need a hand up, and it's the role of the government to provide that hand up. This is why we supported the Australian people with the JobKeeper and JobSeeker packages, ensuring that through a time of global hardship no-one in our country was left behind. Beyond that, we have emphasised the need for getting Australians back into work, creating the JobMaker scheme to make this happen.

We are coming out of a global economic shock that bears similarities to the Great Depression. While that period was bleak for all those alive at the time, here in Australia our economy is already bouncing back at an envious rate. This is partly due to the Morrison government's commitment to jobs and getting the unemployment rate below pre-crisis level. In doing so, our government will deliver stronger wages growth for hardworking Australians. We recognise the link between low unemployment and stronger wages growth, and we will fight for all Australians to get this done.

Under the careful and considered hand of the Morrison government, the unemployment rate is forecast to get back to pre-crisis levels just two years after its peak. This is a remarkable effort when you consider that it took eight years to return to pre-crisis levels after the recession of the 1980s, and 10 years after the 1990s recession. With Treasury and the RBA forecasting unemployment to fall below five per cent by the end of next year, it's clear that the Morrison government has been delivering on its promise to the Australian people of a stronger economy, and with that comes stronger wages for hardworking Australians.

I would like to note that after the last global financial crisis, when Labor was in power, they were never able to get unemployment back to where it was. Do you know why this was? It's because Labor are poor economic managers. A tale as old as time, but it's a reliable adage. Labor may be quick to forget the damage they inflicted on the Australian people by letting unemployment remain high. This remains the case for one of two reasons: either they weren't interested in lowering it, or they didn't know how to. I don't know which is worse.

The Morrison government has no interest in repeating the mistakes that the Labor Party made. Instead, our government is ensuring that Australians have the opportunity to increase their skills and knowledge to easily get back into the workforce. Our government is delivering tax cuts for more Australians to put money back where it belongs: in the pockets of the Australian people. We know the importance of giving Australians their own financial cushion to lean on for support, and the tax cuts we have delivered will provide that. The Morrison government's tax cuts have meant that household incomes have continued to grow in every quarter and are up 4.8 per cent over the year.

The Morrison government is a government of sound economic management and will continue to deliver for the Australian people.

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