Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to speak on the member for Lalor's private member's motion. After a decade of deliberate wage stagnation by those opposite—and we know it was deliberate, because they boasted about keeping Australian workers' wages low—and after a decade when Australian workers saw their buying power diminish, as a deliberate action from the former Liberal-National government, we've finally seen the change.

One of the proudest moments during the campaign for the 2022 election was when now Prime Minister Albanese was asked if he would back a $1 pay rise for minimum-wage workers, and his answer, as we all know, was, 'Absolutely.' And of course, after the election, it became so.

Under this government, the Fair Work Commission has raised the minimum wage by a total of $3.77 an hour. For a full-time minimum-wage worker, that's an extra $143 a week in their pocket or $7,451 a year before tax. It took the coalition an entire wasted decade in office to lift the minimum wage by as much as we have in our first term.

It's not only those on the minimum wage who we've helped. We've also seen an average $5.30 per hour increase in full-time award workers' earnings. That's an extra $200 a week or $10,400 a year before tax.

Why weren't there similar rises in the minimum wage under the previous government? Well, that's because the previous Liberal-National government never once argued for a rise in the minimum wage. In fact, they argued against it. They wanted to keep Australians' wages low, and that's one of the few promises they actually delivered on. Their submission to the annual wage review had a section called 'the importance of low-paid work'. The coalition were completely upfront that they wanted Australians to have low wages. They did not want the Fair Work Commission to provide wage rises—a fair day's pay for a fair day's work—for low-paid workers. Senator Hume said that, if low-paid workers got real wages growth, that would be the worst thing for Australia. Perhaps not for those Australians, but we'll leave that aside. Her coalition colleagues, the opposition leader and the shadow Treasurer, both said they opposed our recent workplace-relations changes, as they were going to result in 'higher wages' for Australian workers—as if it were a bad thing for Australian workers to profit from their labour. We've delivered these wage increases, while keeping unemployment at record lows and moderating inflation from the 6.1 per cent that we inherited from the previous Liberal-National government.

The coalition of the Liberal and National parties wants Australians to work longer for less and on insecure contracts. Labor wants workers to earn more and keep more of what they earn. But that's not all; we are also working to ensure fair work conditions sit alongside those better paid jobs. The Albanese Labor government's approach to workplace relations is delivering results, with nearly half a million workers now covered by enterprise agreements and award workers benefiting from $10,000-a-year 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 this year, new Department of Employment and Workplace Relations figures released today show. That's well up from the same time period last year. Of course, the Liberals and Nationals voted against secure jobs and better pay, saying our laws would 'close down Australia'. This sits alongside other balanced commentary like 'ending the weekend', '$100 lamb roast' and 'the sky will fall'. They were dead wrong. Our laws have revitalised the bargaining system, meaning employers and employees are back at the table, negotiating agreements that benefit both sides. It means employers get better productivity and workers are getting pay rises. At the same time, industrial action has plummeted. Days lost to industrial action were seven times higher in the last quarter of the Morrison government than they are now.

The Albanese Labor government wants Australians to benefit from their work. We want Australian workers and their families to benefit from their labour. We want them to benefit from their efforts. Unlike those opposite, we want Australian workers to get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

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