Matt Gregg (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, we have turned the inflation we inherited around. Now, we find ourselves in a position where our economic management is being compared with that of a government that, for nine years in a row—and after entering office with an action contract promising to 'end the waste'—brought in probably every rort in existence: sports rorts, car park rorts and every other form of rort you could possibly imagine. The colour spreadsheets were active! They were overspenders. They never delivered a surplus. They showed that all their rhetoric about being responsible was just 'reduce, reuse, recycle' from the Howard years.

They continue to lack credibility when it comes to jobs. We have seen 1.5 million additional jobs created in the economy since the Albanese government was elected. We've got one of the lowest unemployment rates for a new government in over half a century. We have an incredibly good record on jobs. We have an incredibly good record on real wage increases. It is not a deliberate design feature of our economic architecture to suppress wages. We want wages to grow. We want living to improve in our country, and we want to make sure we are readying ourselves for the future. We're going to have a 21st century energy grid that will power a 21st century economy. This means that young people can enter the future with a confidence they simply could not have under the coalition government. The coalition party room is where hope and common sense go to die. I'm so glad to be part of a government that is actually delivering the policy settings we need for the future Australians deserve. That is across policy areas.

As we've said, people are doing it tough right now. We take that incredibly seriously. The job is not done yet, but you can tell that this government is committed to making life in this country better. We will do what we need to do to support Australian workers, Australian businesses and Australian industries. It is important for the future of the country that they have at least one side of politics with its eye on the job.

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