Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) under the current Government, labour productivity growth has slumped to a historic low of minus 4.6 per cent; and

(b) the collapse in labour productivity represents a loss of almost half of the growth achieved during the Coalition's time in office;

(2) acknowledges that the Government's:

(a) excuses and blame shifting on productivity are no substitute for the lack of a growth plan for the economy; and

(b) indifference to the productivity challenge should alarm all Australians because it shows indifference to the challenges Australians are facing; and

(3) calls on the Government to take real action to address cost of living pressures and labour productivity growth.

Australians are hurting. Whether it's households or businesses, they are currently facing incredible cost-of-living or business-cost pressure, coupled with rising interest rates and rising energy bills. In the midst of this crisis, the government has utterly failed to address the policy pressures curtailing growth in our economic output. Under the Albanese Labor government, labour productivity growth has slumped to a historic low of -4.6 per cent. This collapse in labour productivity represents a loss of almost half of the growth achieved during the coalition's time in office. Productivity growth is vital not just to our economic outlook but to the standard of living for all Australian households. To keep our current standard of living in a global environment where competitiveness is ever increasing, we must be able to either produce more output from the same inputs or increase the outputs over time.

Instead of taking responsibility and providing real action to turn the tide on reductions in our national productivity and other vital economic growth indicators, the current government has done nothing but provide excuses and shift the blame. As stated by the Chair of the Productivity Commission, Mr Brennan, following the release of the recommendations of their five-year productivity inquiry in March this year, productivity policy is central to a modern economy. Productivity requires smarter spending, not more spending, and this government's indifference to the productivity challenge should alarm all Australians because it shows an indifference to the challenges Australians are facing.

I want to remind the House of the coalition's track record on improving productivity in our time in government. To improve productivity, you must invest in skills and new and emerging technologies, and remove regulatory and tax burdens on business. The coalition government understood that, and the proof is in its record through its time in government, with productivity growing by 11.4 per cent through this period. On policy, our deregulation reforms were expected to generate benefits exceeding $21 billion over 10 years, cutting red tape for business, individual and community groups. Our stage 3 tax cuts, reductions in small business company tax rates, the small business tax offset for sole traders and trusts and the R&D tax incentive reforms helped business to focus on what they do best by reducing their financial and administrative burden. We simplified the business activity statements and implemented single-touch payroll, which automates the ATO reporting requirements, further reducing compliance costs, improving processing times and supporting small business cash flow. We made it easier for businesses to employ their first employees, with the online hiring employees checklist and the employment contract tool that guides employers through a series of questions to generate an employment contract in as little as five minutes. In addition the GDP uplift rate, which applies to pay-as-you-go instalments and GST instalments, was lowered from 10 per cent to two per cent. Importantly, this measure alone injected some $1.85 billion of cash flow for more than 2.3 million taxpayers, including many small businesses. A significant hindrance to the growth of small and medium businesses was the delay in receiving payment for invoices, and through the payment times reporting register we ensured small business were paid on time.

All of these measures and many more went to directly improving the ability of small-to-medium business to do what they do best, and that is make high-quality product and employ Australians. It allowed future generations of Australian families and small businesses to enjoy better business opportunities and a better quality of life, and it must continue to improve under this government. But we're not seeing that. This government needs to make productivity growth a top priority. You cannot expect to compete in a global economy with the current inefficient, overregulated economic growth agenda we're seeing from those opposite. I commend this motion to the House.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, the motion is seconded, and I reserve my right to speak.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Unsurprisingly to all, I'm sure, I'm rising to speak against the motion moved in this place by the member for Forde. However, the tenor of the motion by the member for Forde, much like my disposition towards it, would surprise nobody in this place either. Not only is it a motion which fully demonstrates the myopic nature of the debate peddled by those opposite—and this goes for their hot takes on the economy—to add insult to injury, the member for Forde, at that exact same time he accuses the government of blame-shifting on productivity, indulges in blame-shifting. The member for Forde notes the recent decline in labour productivity accounts for almost half the gains made under the coalition government yet fails to mention the weakest quarter in that time was one almost entirely comprising the last hurrah of the Morrison government.

The member for Forde shouldn't get suckered in by the member for Hume when he puts sensationalist statistics out there, along with a self-serving conclusion. The member has form. I'm not urging caution due to imputing nefarious intent by the member for Hume. He has a proven track record of being bad at maths, the shadow Treasurer. We hear it from those opposite all the time. These arguments are almost akin to having the old tenants handing over the keys to the new after being evicted when the house is on fire, with a raging inferno roaring outside, then start imputing we didn't have the presence of mind to call 000 before moving in. Suffice to say I don't think those opposite are getting their bond back any time soon.

Yet they have the mendacity to call any talk of this 'blame-shifting'. The member for Forde continues by saying blame-shifting is 'no substitute for a lack of the growth plan for the economy'. I'll ignore the syntax, but since the member is crying out for the government to have a plan and take real action to address labour productivity, I don't feel so afraid to tell him about it. It is one of the main reasons why the Albanese Labor government has put jobs and skills on the top of the agenda from the very beginning, looking at this situation holistically, striving for ways to address immediate and short-term needs and also to lay foundations for long-term, long-lasting reforms that future-proof our economy.

Our government is also one that is in the business of building infrastructure that adds value not just to our communities but to our economy as a whole, not just white elephant projects that don't stack up and don't undergo any form of cost-benefit analysis beyond a few spreadsheets and pin-ups on maps overlaid with electorates. Infrastructure that brings about long-term benefits is more than just roads. It is digital infrastructure. Our national broadband network was set up with the future in mind: something that adds value to our nation and brings us closer to the standard of connectivity that other countries have had the ability to access for decades.

During their nine years in government, those opposite made a conscious effort to deliver the NBN faster, cheaper and with more affordability. I think that's what they said. Again, putting the syntax of that aside, in truth we are lagging so far behind other countries, and our productivity suffers as a result of this change to the trajectory of what was meant to be future-proofed public infrastructure. I'm in no position to accuse those opposite of scavenging through Labor's plans for a proper national broadband network, because at least scavengers take out copper, not put copper back into things.

Let us also examine how genuinely interested the member for Forde and his side of the chamber are to see a plan to grow our economy. The first example to come to mind is that, not all that long ago, those opposite voted against the National Reconstruction Fund in this place. We have the NRF in spite of them, rather than as a bipartisan effort. It is a policy that so many sectors within our economy were crying out for, but, no, we were met with opposition for the sake of it. We also have a plan to increase the supply of social and affordable housing—something that is poised to boost labour participation and productivity. And what did those opposite do? We know exactly what they did. The same folk that reflexively say, 'Labor-Green coalition,' in their sleep have spent their waking moments in this parliament joining the Greens to block affordable housing. They sleepwalk towards losing their place in growing Australia and making it ready to participate in tomorrow's global economy. Frankly, a debate on productivity is only productive when both sides of this chamber come into it with their eyes wide open. Let's have one sometime.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Forde on this motion because he is a hundred per cent correct. Australians are suffering under the Albanese Labor government. The last 18 months have been one of the worst times on record for people in relation to inflation in particular, and around rents, housing, electricity and everything else. Productivity is also caught up in that. I have to pull up the member for Spence for using an analogy on housing. In the last 18 months, when he and other newbies on the other side came into this place, housing and homelessness increased under Labor and the Albanese government. Under the coalition's record it actually fell, if you look at the census between 2016 and 2021, particularly around rough sleeping.

The member for Forde states correctly that under the Labor government productivity growth has slumped to an historic low of minus 4.6 per cent. The collapse in labour productivity represents a loss of almost half of what was achieved under the coalition government where people were working hard and getting heaps done at work and then enjoying their weekends off and so forth as well. It also acknowledges that the government's excuses and blame-shifting on productivity are no substitute for a lack of growth planned for the economy by the Treasurer and by the Prime Minister. We hear that daily in question time. For people in the gallery and the students up there: every day we come into this place in question time, a question is asked and they're just full of excuses. It's everyone's fault but theirs. The indifference to the productivity challenge should alarm all Australians, and particularly young people, because it shows indifference to what Australia is facing in the long term.

We, in opposition, lead by example. We call on the government to take real action to address the cost-of-living pressures and labour productivity growth. It's absolutely alarming that there's a collapse in productivity. And why is that? Because this Albanese Labor government, like every Labor government around the country, govern for their union donors. That's what they do. You've just got to look at what they've done since they've come in. They've abolished the ABCC—the Australian Building and Construction Commission. I'm sure that when the member for Fairfax walks around his electorate on the Sunshine Coast, doing mobile offices, he doesn't get people walking up to him saying, 'You need to abolish the ABCC.' It's not a top-of-mind issue, but for this government it's the No. 1 issue they brought into this place when elected 18 months ago.

Phase 2 is the quality advice review into financial services that the Assistant Treasurer has tried to bring up before and will no doubt bring up again—it's not a top-of-mind issue but it's something the unions want. We have the Leader of the House bringing in 'same job, same pay'. Who can remember, if you've worked in a workplace, where you're all working hard, as you should, and you've got some lazy people that rock on up, leave five minutes beforehand, have extra time off at lunch and have terrible productivity? This bloke wants to pay them the same rate as someone who works really hard—that's basically what 'same job, same pay' is. If it's legislated at 60 grand—

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Call the minister by his name, not 'this bloke'.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister opposite wants to ensure that everyone is paid the same rate. That's wrong and that will see productivity fall even lower. As a former small business owner I was quite happy to pay everyone award wages and those people working hard a higher rate. What we will see is, once again, the Albanese Labor government governing for the unions when productivity is falling through the floor. And what have they done? They couldn't even be bothered to read the report. The shadow Treasurer did—he came out and read it. But the Treasurer opposite—no, he can't be bothered with that.

At the same time, in a hit for further transparency, the Treasurer and the Prime Minister have appointed the Treasurer's old boss as the Productivity Commissioner. This raises serious questions about the future ability of the commission to remain independent and able to question the government's actions.

Governments who are focused on their own political agenda and governing for their union donors stop delivering for the people of Australia, and as a result people suffer. That's why we're seeing inflation go through the roof. Everyone listening to this knows their rents are up, their housing repayments are up, their electricity is up and their food is up. That's what you get under a Labor-Greens government.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution to the private members' motion put forward by my friend and member for Forde. When the Albanese government was elected, we gave a commitment to address two critical issues that affect every citizen of this nation: the ever-increasing cost-of-living pressures and the priority for labour productivity growth. As a government it is important that we take real action to create a better future for all Australians.

Cost-of-living pressures have been a burden on the shoulders of hardworking families for far too long. Rising housing costs, utility bills, education expenses and healthcare fees have strained household budgets, leaving many struggling to make ends meet. As a Labor government, we firmly believe that every Australian should have access to a good standard of living where no one is left behind. To combat these challenges, we have devised a comprehensive plan. Affordable housing is a priority, and we have introduced a bill that will see us invest in the construction of affordable housing projects, ensuring that more families have access to secure and reasonably priced homes. Sadly, the opposition and their Greens mates in the Senate have stopped this bill and are stopping us from investing over $1.3 million per day into an affordable and social housing market.

Access to health care is vital, and this government has been working to reduce healthcare expenses. We have improved bulk-billing services by investing $3.5 billion to increase the bulk-billing rate. In the Hunter electorate, this will see rates triple in most areas. We are also investing in public housing and subsidising essential medications. Our focus on preventative health care will aim to reduce the long-term healthcare costs for families.

We believe education is the key to a prosperous future. As such, we have increased funding for public schools to make a quality education more accessible to all. The Albanese Labor government's fee-free TAFE plan is helping to reduce cost-of-living pressures for students, who are saving thousands of dollars in course fees. This is helping to equip our workforce with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly changing economy. We are already delivering 180,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational education training places in 2023. Our new skills investments include over $400 million for a further 300,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational education and training places in high-skill-needs areas from 2024.

Addressing soaring utility costs and combating climate change have accelerated the transition to renewable energy sources. This not only will lead to lower electricity bills for consumers but also will create new job opportunities in a burgeoning green economy. The strength of our nation lies in the hard work and dedication of our workforce. To harness this potential and drive our economy forward we must address the challenges that hinder productivity growth. We have embarked on a significant infrastructure plan to upgrade transportation networks and invest in digital infrastructure. This will not only boost productivity in various sectors but also generate employment opportunities for our regions.

Encouraging research and development is paramount to fostering productivity growth. We will provide tax incentives and grants for businesses that are investing in innovation, supporting development of cutting-edge technologies and products. Unlike those opposite, we supported the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, which will support, diversify and transform Australia's industry and economy, helping to create secure, well-paid jobs and to secure future prosperity and drive sustainable economic growth.

Unlike those opposite, we understand that the wellbeing of employees directly impacts their productivity. That is why the Labor government will also champion fair working conditions, ensuring that workers are treated with respect and are provided with a healthy work-life balance. That is why we are supporting the 'same job, same pay' legislation and improvements in the calculation of long service leave for casual workers. Labor recognises the importance of unions in advocating for workers' rights and ensuring fair pay for a fair day's work. We'll work to strengthen the voice of workers through union representation. By implementing these policies we aim to cultivate an environment that fosters productivity growth while also easing the financial burden on all Australian families.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It's great to be back and to be talking about such an important issue: productivity. The latest national accounts data shows that we're seeing the biggest slump in labour productivity since records began. And in the first year of the Albanese government, productivity growth has dropped to a historic low of minus 4.6 per cent. So, it's fallen off a cliff. Perhaps now that Wayne Swan's former chief of staff and the Treasurer's old boss, Chris Barrett, has been appointed as the chair of the Productivity Commission there might finally be a meeting to discuss its five-yearly Productivity Commission report that was released way back in March.

The government's indifference to the productivity challenge should alarm all Australians, because it shows an indifference to the challenges that Australians are facing—for example, the first tranche of industrial relations reforms. It's a war on employers, introducing multi-employer bargaining, and next is 'same job, same pay'. The government has forged ahead, introducing disastrous energy price caps that are strangling our manufacturing and resources industries and pumping the economic accelerator, with $185 billion of additional spending in the budget. And after a year in office interest rates have risen 11 times, energy bills are sky high, the cost of living is a struggle for millions of Australians, real wages are going backwards and inflation is beyond the target range.

What response do we get? We get a really glossy report—it's beautiful, actually—called Measuring what matters. It's a report that looks good, but it's using data that's two years old, telling us how well we used to be doing. I don't know who was in government then, but you could look it up! It's classic head-in-the sand stuff, and we need to be bolder about our challenges and how we approach them—like the target of $100 billion in national agricultural value by 2030, which is bold and achievable, and the Nationals were pleased to get behind it when in government.

I draw your attention to a recent report commissioned by Hort Innovation and delivered by the Centre for International Economics. Horticulture is obviously a very important industry in my electorate. The Economic contribution of Australian horticulture report predicts the sector will achieve a 22.5 per cent increase in combined value by 2030, to reach $21.8 billion. The chair of the NFF Horticulture Council, Jolyon Burnett, said:

The horticulture sector, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and also our turf, nursery and garden industries, has experienced solid growth over many years, backed by strong demand and innovation, with this trend set to continue.

Horticulture and food processing is such an important pillar of the economy, particularly in my electorate. I'll share a few insights from the report. For every dollar of value the horticulture industry generates, an additional 27.6c is injected into the economy. For every 100 jobs that exist in Australian horticulture, 21 more jobs are created in the support sectors, such as wholesale, trade, retail, transport and construction.

These projected productivity increases, which benefit all Australians, are under threat. So those opposite need to work with employers to end the energy price caps and embrace lower, incentive based tax measures instead of hiking taxes on franking credits, superannuation and investors. Businesses in my electorate need access to workers to fill the labour skills gaps. We had a program called the ag visa, which those opposite have scrapped, and employers who want to increase their productivity using foreign labour are finding it very hard to operate now because there's not enough Australian labour around.

To conclude, I want to talk about probably the biggest threat to productivity in my region and across Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, and that is the disastrous policy in relation to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. To rip out of the basin water that is used highly efficiently to grow clean, green produce that we consume here and export to Southeast Asia and beyond—great industries thrive in the Murray-Darling Basin as a result of being able to use the water in the rivers for irrigation. We have given so much back to the environment, and Labor want to take more of it. I can't think of anything that smashes productivity more than ripping away the water that's used to grow food and export and manufacture food. I think it's appalling, and I think those opposite should rethink their whole approach to the policy.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I turn to the member for Forde's motion about productivity, because a nationwide system that gives families access to low-cost, high-quality child care would start to dismantle the 'architecture of discrimination and difference' that limits women's full participation in the workforce. These are the wise words from Professor Rae Cooper from the University of Sydney. How does this relate to the member for Forde's private member motion? It directly relates to the Albanese government's cheaper child care package, which kicked in at the side of this month. It's an important investment that will boost productivity in our economy by helping to unlock the great potential of the women of Australia.

I understand that the LNP don't get it, and this notion wouldn't spring from their party room deliberations. I wonder sometimes if some of them wish it were the 1950s, where women's work was in the kitchen, not the boardroom. But back here in modern Australia, there are so many women who are keen to re-enter the workforce or to do extra hours at their place of employment, but the cost of child care has been holding them back. This is some low-hanging productivity fruit; an instant boost to productivity in one quick step. A mum is out there wanting to work an extra day or two in her job but is financially unable to do so because of childcare expenses, paying so much that it's barely worth packing the kid's backpack for that extra day at work.

A high-quality education is also important when it comes to boosting productivity. What better way to start that journey than by beginning with the professional delivery of early childhood education? What an excellent way to boost productivity for the long term—delivering high-value education reforms for Australian kids. Child care is the platform on which rest primary school, high school, university and voc ed. Get the basics right from the very beginning. I know that the Queensland state government is investing in this stage of education as well by making kindy free for Queensland kids from next year. What a great start to a child's education, coupled with the opportunity for women to re-enter the workforce earlier. That's a double productivity boost.

While we're talking about education, something I'm passionate about is investing in skills and training. It's another lever that governments can pull to boost the productivity machine. We're coming off almost a decade of an absence of government policy when it comes to skills and training. The coalition left behind a nation struggling to catch up. The Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments vacated so many areas of public policy. So, of course, the nation is on the backfoot at the moment, because the LNP sat on their hands and didn't lift a finger—to mangle a metaphor—probably because they were sitting on those fingers. The coalition had a deliberate design principle of suppressing the wages and conditions of workers while not investing in skills and training.

Thankfully, Labor believes in training and skills development, and that is why the Albanese government is investing in institutions like TAFE. In Queensland, I saw the Newman government, back in the day, try to choke the life out of TAFE Queensland by sacking TAFE teachers and staff and ripping funds out of TAFEs, but that slash-and-burn approach didn't work out too well for Mr Newman. Labor has a different approach under Minister O'Connor. We're investing in our greatest resource—our people. We believe in Australians and believe they can be more. We're honouring our key election commitment to provide fee-free TAFE and vocational education places. Whether it's in the care sector, agriculture, hospitality and tourism, construction, technology or the need to ensure our sovereign capability in defence and manufacturing, we need to deliver skills to boost productivity. Again, it is left to this Labor government to clean up the mess and inactivity of the previous Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments.

Do you know how you boost productivity? You invest in people. You don't put up or refuse to pull down barriers for women to enter or re-enter the workforce. You don't defund and gut training and skills institutions like TAFE so that they're unable to deliver the skills and training that industry needs. For anyone who goes around businesses, you know that one of the first things they'll say is that they can't find enough bodies or enough trained bodies for their workplace. We know that you don't suppress wages and conditions for workers wherever and whenever you can, which was the playbook of the coalition government. If you don't invest in people, you don't boost productivity.

It's interesting that we're having a debate put forward by the member for Forde on productivity, but I'm yet to hear any actual solutions put forward by the speakers opposite. I live in hope. I'm sure there's one following, but we live in hope and await some elucidation from those opposite.

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

Member for Moreton, I have a good solution for you: appoint a minister for the digital economy, because the digital economy drives productivity. There is a solution for you. Thank you very much for that introduction, member for Moreton.

If we had a minister for the digital economy, that would drive costs down for business. It's not just me saying that. The Productivity Commission have also noted in their five-year report the importance of technology in driving productivity growth. Those opposite wouldn't be aware of that, because the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and those opposite haven't even bothered to get a briefing on the report from the Productivity Commission. We hear the standard talking points about investing in child care—absolutely!—although, interestingly, they call it a cheaper childcare policy. But that policy is not working, because fees have gone up greater than the subsidy because there's been no investment in supply—in increasing the places that are available. So while the name of the bill is very impressive—Labor can always name great bills—out in the community, people are still paying more for their child care. The member for Moreton should talk to some of the families in his community about it. So there's just one initiative: a minister for the digital economy.

This motion is really important, because productivity is a key economic driver to improve the cost of living. I recently attended a forum with Senator Jane Hume, the Chair of the Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living. We heard, and many members would know, the terrible stories of families and businesses struggling. We need to make sure that we do have positive solutions to drive down these challenges around the cost of living, inflation and wages. Again, we hear those opposite talk a lot about real wages. What they don't talk about is the fact that real wages are going backwards under this government. The real disposable income per hour worked has fallen by 10 per cent over the last year. So every Australian out there working every day to earn a dollar is getting less every day and every hour under this government. During the campaign, they spoke a lot about real wages and about how important real wages are—because, at the end of the day, that's what matters: what you've got at home and what you can afford to spend. But we don't hear this government talk about real wages anymore, because it's going backwards under this government.

In the RBA minutes from the last meeting, total real household income declined by four per cent in the March quarter. Australians are struggling. The economic crisis we face is the biggest challenge we face as Australians. Everyone should know that. You would think that the Prime Minister, the leader of this country, would have an interest in the economy and in how to provide some solutions to this. You would think that the Prime Minister would be getting monthly or, at least, quarterly briefings from our most senior economic adviser, Dr Steven Kennedy, the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, about the economy and the solutions to make it easier for Australians. But we are wrong—not monthly, not quarter, not once. Not once in the last 12 months has this Prime Minister received a briefing on the economy from the most senior economic adviser in the Public Service. What does that tell you about this government and its priorities? Don't listen to what they say; listen to what they do.

Every Australian is struggling to put food on the table. I speak to small businesses in my community every day. Every week their costs are going up and their revenues are going down, and this Prime Minister does not care. If he cared, he would be getting briefings from the department on how to solve these problems. He doesn't care about the economic challenges we face. We have a Treasurer with a PhD in politics who is more concerned about making sure he gets the support of the backbench for his next step to his prime ministerial ambitions than he does about taking the tough decisions that Australians need to drive productivity. This government is not prepared to make these decisions, and it's Australians that suffer. I have a letter here from Beau, who is from Menzies Creek Primary School. I went to see them last week. Beau wrote me a letter about the cost-of-living crisis. That's how important it is to Australians but not to this Prime Minister.

Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It is absolutely galling to stand in this chamber and suffer through the hypocrisy of the Liberals opposite talking about productivity in our economy. Australians are suffering from flat productivity—flat productivity that was flat for the whole decade they were in government. They never had a reason to speak about productivity while it was flat for the decade that they were in government. In fact, under the former Liberal government, productivity growth was the slowest in 60 years. They oversaw an economy with the slowest productivity growth in more than half a century. Now they come rushing in here to attack various members of the executive, to make ludicrous claims about who's briefed who or who's chatted to who has some detrimental impact on the government's policy around economic growth and productivity investment. The reality is that we know there is a lot of work to be done. When the Liberals attack our economy and our supply chains and degrade our labour market over a decade, it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to repair. The budget measures that we've put in place, and they have been referred to by others in the chambers, are the first steps to working through that decade of neglect and degradation overseen by the Liberals.

We all agree that our economy needs productivity growth. It's a key driver of living-standard improvement across any economy. But we differ in our views about what that productivity improvement looks like and how it might be achieved. What we understand, about the Liberal Party's views on productivity growth, is that it is not at all real productivity growth. It's false. It's fake productivity growth. The only plan the Liberals ever have, to deliver this fake productivity growth, is by smashing the pay, the wages, of working Australians. They're never looking for efficiencies in productivity. They're never looking to grow the overall pie. They simply play tricks around industrial relations. They like to move the money out of the worker's pocket and put it into the profit margins of the businesses they seek to represent through this advocacy.

That's why we saw a decade of negative real wage growth under the Liberals as well. Not only did we see flat productivity for a decade but, even with their penny-pinching from workers, we saw a decade of negative real wage growth. But it wasn't an accident that Australians' wages went backwards for the last 10 years under the Liberals. As incompetent economic managers—as the modern Liberal Party are, and they make that clear on a daily basis for us—we know because they told us. They said that negative real wage growth was a deliberate design feature of their economy. They were their words: 'deliberate design feature'.

The former Liberal government's approach to workers in our country was to actively pay them less and less, in order to keep that government's poorly designed economy afloat. And Australians are suffering for that now. Our supply chain issues have come home to roost. By that, I'm speaking about the decade of degradation in our supply chains. We can go as far back as the Liberals closing the car industry to understand their ideological position on making things here in Australia. We've seen the war in Ukraine, the hangover from COVID and the effect on our ability to get the goods and services that we need in the international market at fair and reasonable prices.

The combination of rising prices through inflation and, of course, low wages growth over the last decade has meant that Australians are more under the pump in their household budgets than they have ever been before. We need only look at words the former Liberal government espoused themselves. This was a deliberate design feature of their economy. Our economy does need productivity, but the productivity gains must not be at the expense of one side or the other, workers or business; they must benefit our economy overall.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind the member for Hawke that the Liberals did not govern, cannot govern, without the National Party. I don't know how many references he made to the Liberals, but there's the Nationals too! The reason he ignored the National Party is that he's a new member. He's in a new seat, the seat of Hawke, to the north and north-west of Melbourne. He comes to this place with that city-centric view. They don't understand, those metropolitan members, the value of regional areas and the value of the Nationals in those regional areas.

It was those regional areas that carried productivity. It was those regional areas that carried the economy. It was those regional areas that carried the nation through COVID, through those dark days. We saw that, in the United States of America, they were burying people on Manhattan Island in an unprecedented situation. In Italy, they were putting coffins in churches because the morgues were filled to overflowing with people who had, tragically, passed away from that worldwide pandemic. That did not happen in Australia, and that did not happen because the Liberals and the Nationals made sure that we had our health system right, that we kept the doors of business open and that we kept workers in jobs.

I get tired of and I get angry at the fact that those members opposite come into this place time and time again and say, 'What did we get from a trillion dollars worth of Liberal Party debt?' It's wrong. The figure is nowhere near a trillion dollars. I'll tell you what we got from the debt that has been incurred. We made sure that tens of thousands of people are alive today who would not otherwise be contributing to the economy and who would not otherwise be alive. We saved people's lives. We put health first and we made sure that the economy was strong. Coming out of COVID, jobs went up and productivity went up.

Looking at this motion which has been brought to this place by the member for Forde, we see that the latest national accounts data shows that we have the biggest slump, the biggest decline, the greatest fall, in labour productivity since records began—and that's now. That's on this government's watch. That's on Labor's watch. In the first year of the Albanese government, productivity growth has dropped to a historic low of minus—that's negative—4.6 per cent. What a shame.

I heard the member for Moreton talk about skills and women in the workforce. Let's just have a look at the figures. Under the coalition, there were 815,600 female business operators. That's from August 2021 figures. There were 220,000 trade apprentices, a record high, and 11½ million Australians were benefiting from tax relief. Real wages were stronger and higher than they are at the moment. I know those opposite talk about wages, but, when you talk about wages, you talk about what you can do with the money that you earn. At the moment, what people are doing with the money that they earn is paying higher grocery prices and higher power bills. The member for Fairfax knows this well. He's prosecuting the case for energy relief, and yet we see in the member for Hawke's own state of Victoria a government so bereft of vision and so bereft of policy ideas that they have not only cancelled the Commonwealth Games but, worse than that, banned gas. 'No, you can't have gas in a new home.' Heaven forbid you turn a kitchen appliance on with gas in the future—go figure!

We had gas, we had iron ore and we had coal, which were pushing up productivity, jobs and balance of payments and which kept the economy going. What does this Labor government at both the federal and state level want to do? They want to shut the whole show down. That's what Labor does: they shut the whole shown down—'Who cares how much people are paying?' The sorts of things that Labor members are talking about have nothing to do with the sorts of things that people are talking about at barbecues, at their churches and at their sporting contests on the weekend. Shame, Labor.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I find it extraordinary in this debate that the Liberals can't even come in and defend their own motion and that they've kicked it off to their junior coalition partner, the Nationals, to defend. I guess they know it's a bit of a joke. Maybe it came from the shadow Treasurer's office: 'Quick—let's get up and make a motion about this.' The motion has been really deceptive in the way in which it's been put forward and it's really quite misleading, because, as we have said on this side and as everybody knows—all the leading economists are saying this—that dip that we had in productivity was mostly on their watch. It was in the lead-up to the last election. It was for that June quarter in 2022, which, of course, is retrospective. So it was actually on their watch that we had that dip. As speakers on my side have demonstrated, there are a number of factors as to why.

I want to touch on a couple of the contributions that we've had from those opposite. First is the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The whole purpose of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is to make our water resources more productive. If you actually wanted to get on board with productivity, you would know that in the Murray-Darling Basin it is about tapping into the plan, tapping into that Commonwealth support to help farmers use their water more productively. The entire plan is about productivity. The member for Casey's contribution was basically a personal spray about the Treasurer and the Prime Minister. I thought the member for Casey was better than that. All he did was to have a spray at the Prime Minister and the Treasurer.

The speaker before him, the member for Riverina, in classic style, got up and had a rant about how great the regions are and how bad the Labor Party is. As a member for a regional area, I do know how hard our local businesses and workers are working. Mr Deputy Speaker, I can tell you what they say is really hurting productivity growth. It is the lack of skilled workers, which is something that happened under the watch of those opposite, who did not provide the supply chain of skilled workers that we require. In some businesses it's a lack of any workers. They don't have enough staff to open for the extra hours which would improve their productivity. It is the collapse of enterprise bargaining under those opposite, the number of agreements that stalled in Fair Work and could not get approved. Let's remember the whole foundation of enterprise bargaining. It was about productivity gains and wages growth. Set up by former Prime Minister Paul Keating when he was Treasurer, the whole idea of reforming industrial relations back then, in the late nineties, was about offsetting wages growth with productivity gains. The enterprise bargaining system stalled, almost collapsed, under those opposite when they were in government, and we're seeing the impact on productivity.

Supply chains are another issue that has been raised. Again that was on their watch. We are still feeling the impact of not having the supplies we need in this country to help productivity. We've had the experience of electricians being told, 'Stay at home; you don't have work this week,' because they don't have the supplies needed to get the homes built. They're still waiting on supplies that are stuck in transit. We've had people in our hospital system have appointments cancelled because there aren't enough supplies to perform certain procedures. This didn't happen just in the last 12 months; this happened under the previous government's watch. We are working to clean this up.

What else are we doing to help clean up the mess of those opposite? We are tackling the skills deficit and the worker deficit. We are skilling up people by offering them free TAFE opportunities so that businesses can get the skilled workers they need. We've introduced cheaper child care, which is about making it possible for mums and dads—most times it's the mum—to return to work for a fourth or fifth day each week. Child care became unaffordable. It became cheaper for mum to stay at home and mind the kids on that fourth or fifth day than to return to work. That is what cheaper child care is about—it's about unlocking productivity potential by getting those skilled women back into the workforce sooner.

These are just a couple of the things we're doing. We're also fixing the NBN by finishing the job, by building the NBN that's needed. The National Reconstruction Fund is all about improvements in productivity in manufacturing. We're fixing the bargaining system and getting bargaining back on track. This is a topic where I wish I had another five minutes, Mr Deputy Speaker, because there's a lot to say about improving productivity.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a very tough time to be in the workforce in Australia, because real wages are going backwards and costs are exploding. Official data published by the ABS paints a very stark and difficult picture, and the human suffering we hear of as MPs is even starker. We hear of people who are struggling so much with the household budget at the moment, with real wages going backwards and costs like rents, mortgage repayments and groceries going up. Probably the worst at the moment are electricity bills, which are absolutely exploding on the working people of this nation. As we see this happening, we take the opportunity to debate it in this chamber.

We are talking about the tough times that Australians are having right now, and the contribution from the government is effectively complete denial, a rebuttal of the proposition that it's tough out there. Frankly, if that's what they want to do, if they want to bury their heads in the sand, there will be a very significant political cost for them. No person in the street would be convinced by the arguments just given by government members to a family that's had to cancel a family holiday later in the year or take their kids out of private school because the household budget can't accommodate certain things that it used to. No one would be convinced, if they were stopped in the street, by arguments from the government—arguments like, 'No, things are much better than the statistics show.'

Perhaps, in fact, there is a government policy on the way to abolish the Australian Bureau of Statistics because they are unhelpfully pointing out, on such a regular basis, the reality which the government is denying. The former governor of the Reserve Bank Philip Lowe pointed out the productivity challenge. He has been sacked. It's all over for Philip Lowe because he told the truth about challenges in our economy, and particularly those that are underpinned by the lack of productivity growth in our economy—the negative growth. We have a circumstance now in our economy where real wages are going backwards. That means Australians are getting poorer. That's what that means, and that is the most important thing that we could be discussing and debating, right now, in this chamber. If you were a government that wanted to get re-elected, you'd be looking at that reality and proposing things that are going to turn it around. Nearly 18 months into this government, it's no longer acceptable to talk about the last government. We're happy to talk about our time in government. We're very proud of the custodianship that we conducted over this country—and we are the greatest country in the world. If those opposite want to dispute that all the time in these debates, they're welcome too.

We're proud of where the country was at 18 months ago, but we're very concerned, 18 months into this government, about where we are right now and where we are going. And that is the view that you get when you go out and knock on doors, telephone constituents and go to electorate events. People are struggling. They're doing it tough. They want a government that understands that, takes it seriously and has some serious solutions that are going to turn that around. We don't have that, we know, because when we have debates like this in the chamber, the opportunity to point out all the things that are going to turn that around is not taken by the government. They obsess about things from when they were in opposition. They don't realise they're the government, evidently, or they don't want people to realise that they are the government—that they are almost at the 18-month mark and it is coming up to a point where it is ludicrous to suggest that 18 months is not enough time to make any meaningful impact on the lives of Australians.

What Australians know is that they're going backwards under this government. Regrettably, as statistics come out, we see that this is only getting worse for Australians. This motion about Labour productivity—the statistics you simply cannot dispute are happening on the watch of this government. Australians are going backwards. Australians have less money to meet their household costs that are going up dramatically. We need to take that seriously and not just have important debates like this but have a government that brings forward meaningful measures to address it. Instead, government members in this debate dismiss it and say it's not happening. The statistics and data don't lie, but, most importantly, the people of this country know it because they're feeling it themselves. And if you listen to them, they'll tell you. If we've got have a government that's not listening to the people, then they won't be a government for very long. That's a decision of members of the government, but we in the opposition are going to take the opportunity in this place to talk about these challenges because ordinary Australians are hurting.

Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

In the 1980s, every parrot in pet shops across the country was an expert in microeconomic reform. Now, it seems as through everybody is a productivity pundit—and fair enough, productivity is very important. But what we see today is the worst in cherrypicking and looking at numbers completely out of context. Those opposite have taken a one-off number and suggested something systemic. In fact, when you look at this number, it is a classic case of not looking at the cyclicality and not looking at the context.

What happened, of course, is that a couple of years ago we had COVID, and the entire shape of the economy changed artificially. Rightly, a number of sectors of the economy were shut down for quite some period of time. What that meant was the sectoral change in our economy led to higher-productivity industries taking up a greater share of economic activity. There was always going to be a rebalancing of the economy as the COVID restrictions unwound. There was always going to be a shift back towards lower-productivity industries as they opened up. So these short-term figures reflect, by and large, cyclical factors that were always going to happen.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for next sitting.