Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

Labor has already delivered cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE—that actually helps productivity—and the biggest investment ever in expanding bulk-billing. This is all part of a longer term economic plan, helping Australians right now, working to bring down inflation and planning a future made in Australia. We know there's more to do, and we'll keep working every day to deliver for every Australian.

That's why today is an exciting day, because it is the day that our government's further cost-of-living relief measures kick in. From today, 1 July, every Australian taxpayer will receive a tax cut. From today every Australian household will get $300 off their energy bill over the next year, and $325 off for small businesses. From today there will be a freeze on the cost of PBS medicines, making medication cheaper for every Australian. From today the Albanese Labor government is increasing funding to build more homes across Australia. From today 2.6 million workers will be receiving another consecutive pay rise.

The government's decision to advocate on behalf of low-paid workers in three consecutive Fair Work Commission annual wage reviews has delivered astounding results. There has been a $5.30 per hour average increase in full-time award workers' earnings in the Albanese Labor government's first term. That's an extra $200 per week, or $10,400 per year, before tax. We have overseen a $3.77 per hour increase in the minimum wage in our first term. For a full-time minimum wage worker, that's an extra $143 per week, or $7,451 a year, before tax. A full-time minimum wage worker's annual salary has gone from $40,175 to $47,627 in just over two years. This is what happens when you have a government that goes in to bat for low-paid workers. When you show up at the commission and advocate for people who are doing it tough, you get results.

It took the coalition their entire wasted decade in office to lift the minimum wage by as much as we have in our first term. We know people are under pressure, and pay rises are a tangible way our government is helping. Just imagine how much worse things would have been for families if the Liberals had had their way and these pay rises had never happened. That's because the previous coalition government never once argued for a rise in the minimum wage—not once! We know that the previous coalition government kept wages low as a deliberate design feature of their economic architecture. That's their DNA. That's one of the few promises they actually delivered on.

The Albanese Labor government's approach to workplace relations is delivering incredible results, with nearly half a million more workers covered by enterprise agreements and award workers benefiting from $10,000 pay rises. We said our secure jobs, better pay laws would fix the bargaining system, and now we're seeing the proof. The Fair Work Commission approved 1,022 enterprise agreements in the first quarter of 2024. New Department of Employment and Workplace Relations figures show that's well up from the same time period of the year before, just after our secure jobs, better pay laws passed the parliament. Agreements approved in the March quarter of 2024 covered 364,996 employees—the highest number of employees covered by newly approved agreements in over a decade. There were 2.14 million people covered by a current enterprise agreement in the March quarter of 2024—around 480,000 more workers since Labor came to government.

Peter Dutton and his Liberals voted against secure jobs, better pay laws, saying that our laws would close down Australia. Oh, my goodness. The coalition had voted against every single one of our workplace relations measures. Of course, we recently learned that their industrial relations spokesperson, Senator Cash, has given her support to the New South Wales Liberal Party's WorkChoices-style policy platform. In a leaked letter to the New South Wales Liberal Party, Senator Cash said that their platform had several good ideas that align with the coalition's approach to industrial relations. What are their good ideas, according to Senator Cash? They include: making it easier to sack people, abolishing the better off overall test, removing rights as a condition of employment and removing award protections for thousands of workers.

What we know about these policies that Senator Cash has endorsed is that they would remove minimum pay and conditions for truckies, nurses, schoolteachers, Australian Federal Police officers, shop assistants, early childhood educators and coalmine workers. Under the Albanese government, more Australians are working, more Australians are earning more and more Australians keep more of what they earn. (Time expired)

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