Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) | Hansard source

Yesterday was 1 July, and this was a really important day where a lot of cost-of-living help was provided by this government. Starting from 1 July, I'm really very pleased that workers that rely on the national minimum wage and national minimum award wages will have seen a boost to their wages. Modern award wages have increased by 4.75 per cent and the national minimum wage has gone up six per cent. This is really important for our lowest-paid workers in this country, and our government strongly advocated for these increases because we believe that workers deserve to be paid fairly, and wages need to keep on moving. Workers like Brandon are an example of people that are benefiting. He contacted my office to let me know that this will make a huge difference to him and other young people in the retail workspace who now feel they can get ahead and start saving for a home.

Tax cuts are also coming in on 1 July. The Albanese Labor government is making sure that more workers right around the country, and have so many hardworking people particularly in the southern suburbs of Adelaide, have got a tax cut on 1 July. This is in addition to the tax cuts our government has already delivered, and there are more tax cuts coming. There is a new $1,000 instant tax deduction that was in the budget, along with a $250 working Australians tax offset coming next year. We are absolutely committed as a government to continue to ensure that workers are getting tax cuts over and over again to support them with the cost of living.

Of course, the Labor Party is the party of superannuation. We firmly believe that superannuation enables people to save for their retirement. It is a very important reform. It was brought in by a Labor government, and, of course, this Labor government has continued this legacy by ensuring that we reach 12 per cent in the contributions made. Also, importantly, from 1 July, we have introduced payday super. This is a really important reform that strengthens and ensures that we treat superannuation with the same importance that we treat someone's pay packet, making sure that they get paid on time and that workers get what they are entitled to and what they've earned. And, finally, from 1 July, parents of newborns can now have six months of paid parental leave.

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