Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There we have it: 'The Australian public have never had it better. How lucky is the Australian public?' I want to commend the member for Hawke for this motion. I don't think I could see a better motion that actually highlights how out of touch the Albanese government actually is. Wages are up. Of course they're up, because inflation is through the roof. What they don't talk about is real wages. They were happy to talk a lot about real wages during the election campaign—and let's be honest, this is another example of ALP spin. They think if they put a few numbers in a motion that the public won't understand that it's harder than ever. But real wages are crucial, because that's wage growth and inflation; it's whether you have more money in your pocket every week to pay the bills and enjoy your life.

So what did the Treasurer, when he was shadow Treasurer, say about real wages in the election? On 21 November 2021, he said:

… petrol prices are skyrocketing, real wages are going down and working families are going backwards, and I think that should be central to an election about the economy, about living standards and about the Prime Minister's failures on economic management.

That was the shadow Treasurer on 21 November 2021 on real wages. He was very clear. I could have pulled out hundreds and hundreds of quotes from those opposite about real wages.

And what did the then opposition leader now Prime Minister say? He said, 'It's about the failure of economic management.' Quoting then opposition leader Anthony Albanese on 17 March, he said, 'A Labor government will lower the cost of living.' On 1 May, in his campaign launch speech—so it's not on the fly, it's not off a question; this was prepared and in his campaign launch speech. He said:

Labor has real, lasting plans for

That was his plan.

We talked about wages before and we talked about real wages, and I note the member for Hawke didn't want to give any numbers on real wages. Let's look at how they've gone under this government: September 2022, real wages were negative 4.1 per cent for the quarter; December 2022, real wages were negative 4.4 per cent for the quarter; March 2023, real wages were negative 3.3 per cent for the quarter; and June 2023, real wages were negative 2.4 per cent for the quarter. And this government insults the Australian people by coming in here today and patting themselves on the back and telling themselves what a great job they're doing. Well the Australian public have worked them out. They know they've been distracted for the first 18 months of this government. They know they have no plans to make life easier for Australians.

In the 12 months to June, Australian household income fell 5.1 per cent. That's the most in the OECD. The UK, as a comparison, up 2.2 per cent. The US, up 3.5 per cent. And our friends in Spain, up six per cent. You'll hear spin from this Prime Minister and this Treasurer talking about global factors. Well, those factors are not impacting Spain, and they're not impacting the US or the UK. Every other country in the OECD is doing better on household income than Australia. What's the common thread? It's the Albanese Labor government, which has no plans for addressing the cost of living for the Australian people.

Those opposite talk about the independent Fair Work Commission. They're very happy to put in this motion how great it is that there was a minimum pay rise for the lowest earners—the work of the independent Fair Work Commission—but it's more spin. When the independent Reserve Bank of Australia increases interest rates, they walk away from the Reserve Bank at a million miles an hour. They'll take all the credit for the independent Fair Work Commission, but they'll pass the buck on the independent Reserve Bank of Australia.

Every time there is an economic decision to be made in this country, this government makes the wrong decision, and Australians know it. They feel it every time they go to the petrol browser. Petrol was $2.25 per litre when I was driving to the airport last night. They were happy to complain when it was $1.79, but they've got no plans to improve the cost of living for Australians, and we all know it.

See this speech in context