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

My question is to the Treasurer. How is the Australian labour market performing and how is the Albanese Labor government laying the foundations for more secure, well-paid jobs into the future?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm much more likely to get a question of the cost of living from the wonderful member for Hawke that I am from the shadow Treasurer. Those opposite don't even pretend to care about the cost of living anymore—or about the jobs market. They have vacated the field. Could that be because inflation is moderating in our economy, our jobs market has been particularly resilient, and we are handing down the first surplus in 15 years—something those opposite were incapable of?

But we know that people are still under pressure, and in the face of the shadow Treasurer's embarrassed indifference, our highest priority is rolling out billions of dollars in cost-of-living relief and creating good, secure well-paid jobs for more of our people. In the face of pressures coming at us from around the world and being felt around the kitchen tables of this country, our labour market has been a source of resilience and a source of strength. Australians have every right to be proud of what we have achieved together over the past year and a bit: 14 million Australians in work for the first time ever; the population share in work the highest ever; the unemployment rate now 3½, down from 3.9 at the election; and women's participation at near-record highs as well. The most recent data confirmed half a million jobs had been created in the first 13 months of the Albanese government. Thirteen months is the shortest period for any new government to reach this mark on record. It took those opposite 34 months to create half a million jobs. It took Mr Howard's government 45 months. That's more than three times longer than it's taken us.

Despite the outstanding performance of our labour market and our people, we know that high but moderating inflation, higher rates and global uncertainty is expected to slow the economy and push up employment in the months ahead. Both the RBA and the Treasury forecasts have unemployment ticking up over time. But this is a remarkable starting point as we enter a new period of uncertainty from a position of relative strength. It's also prompted a welcome and important focus on full employment and how we manage and maximise opportunities for more of our people.

The first priority of the employment white paper that we will release in the coming months will be finding some common ground on full employment and, in the process, laying out our plans for job security and wages and productivity and skill shortages and addressing the barriers that people confront, even with unemployment, with a three in front of it. As pleased as we are with the progress that Australians have made together, we know that there is more to do to ensure that people who work hard can provide for their loved ones and get ahead. This is a central feature of our responsible economic management. We're making progress, but we know that there's uncertainty ahead.