Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Despite what they say, the former Liberal government's pathetic record on economic management is absolutely clear. A trillion dollars of debt—that is your economic legacy. No matter how much they try to peddle the mistruth that they are superior economic managers, they cannot escape the simple fact that they left office with a trillion dollars of debt and nothing more than a negligible economic dividend to show for it. Instead, Australians lived through the worst decade for productivity in half a century and a decade of negative real wage growth.

I have spoken on several motions like this one during my brief time in this place: cut and paste Liberal spin that ignores the fact they were in government for almost a decade. The member for Flynn starts this one by rightly highlighting that many Australians are doing it tough, and the cost of living is rising fast. Interest rates and inflation are rising alongside, as they began to under the previous Liberal government, and household budgets are consequently stressed. As always, the member goes on to ignore the countless cost-of-living relief measures the Albanese Labor government is implementing. However, where this motion departs from all those that I've had the pleasure of speaking on previously is where it fails to mention the Liberals' decade of deliberate negative wage growth that has left so many Australians ill-equipped to handle the cost-of-living challenge.

In 2019, the former federal Liberal Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann, said that low wage growth was, 'A deliberate design feature of our economic architecture.' Australians should reflect on this. The Liberals deliberately kept your wages low while the profits of their corporate mates were soaring. Just earlier this year, the former Prime Minister and member for Cook described the prospect of a $1-an-hour increase to the minimum wage as 'reckless and dangerous'. This deliberate effort to stifle wages, while increasing the profits of their corporate mates, has left Australian families doing it very tough, and I'm not surprised that those opposite don't want to talk about it anymore.

Australians know that it was the former Liberal government that created the economic challenges we face today. However, Australians also know that only an Albanese Labor government can deliver the actual reform that will address those structural challenges. That's why they elected us and that's what we'll do. That's why our government has ended the previous government's policy of keeping wages low as a deliberate design feature of the economy they were running, and we are focused on getting wages moving again. Before the year is out, the Albanese Labor government will pass the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 to restore the balance at the bargaining table and deliver wage rises for Australian workers and their families. Sadly, this will pass without the support of those opposite. They don't want to talk about wage growth, and they certainly don't want to see it either.

Wage growth is just one part of Labor's plan to address the cost-of-living challenges faced by so many Australian families. Last month, in the first of many budget speeches, the Treasurer detailed Labor's economic plan to deliver a direct and deliberate response to the challenges facing our economy, including the cost of living. The Albanese Labor government is delivering cheaper child care to Australian families, including 7,000 families in my electorate of Hawke. These 7,000 households will be getting cheaper child care with the maximum childcare subsidy to rise to 90 per cent. Parents in Hawke will also have access to a full 26 weeks of paid parental leave as the Commonwealth scheme is expanded over the coming years. The cost of medicines will be slashed, as script costs plummet at the local pharmacy by $12.50 per script. And the rising cost of housing will be addressed through the new housing accord.

The Albanese Labor government is getting on with the job of fixing up the Liberal Party's mess, driving down the trillion dollars of debt they created and getting wages moving again. Alongside that, we will continue to provide much-needed relief to household budgets through our additional policy measures.

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