Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that on Monday, 1 July 2024, 2.6 million low paid workers will receive a third consecutive pay rise; and

(2) acknowledges the Government's number one priority is to tackle the cost of living pressures facing Australians by ensuring they earn more and keep more of what they earn.

Today is 1 July, and 1 July is the day that 2.6 million low-paid workers will receive their third consecutive pay rise since the Albanese Labor government came to office. The government's decision to advocate on behalf of low-paid workers in three consecutive Fair Work Commission annual wage reviews has delivered astounding results. There has been a $5.30 an hour average increase in full-time award workers' earnings in our first term. That's an extra $200 per week, or $10,400 a year, before tax. We've seen a $3.77 per hour increase in the minimum wage in our first term. For a full-time minimum wage worker, that's an extra $143 a week, or $7,451 a year, before tax. A full-time minimum wage worker's annual salary has gone from $40,175 to $47,627 in just over two years. This is part of this government's plan to ensure that people earn more and keep more of what they earn.

We've delivered these wage increases while keeping unemployment at record lows and getting inflation to moderate. We know that people are under pressure, and pay rises are a tangible way the government is helping. Just imagine how much worse things would be for families if those opposite had their way and these pay rises had not happened. It took the coalition their entire wasted decade in office to lift the minimum wage by as much as we have in our first term, in two years of government. That's because the previous Liberal and National government never once argued for a rise in the minimum wage. They wanted to keep wages low, and that's one of the few promises they actually delivered on. The member for Dickson wants Australians to work longer for less. Labor wants workers to earn more and keep more of what they earn. This decision was a direct result of advocacy from the Albanese Labor government.

On top of those measures, our industrial relations changes are also delivering pay rises to Australians doing it tough. Our approach to workplace relations is delivering incredible results, with nearly half a million more workers covered by enterprise agreements, and award workers benefiting from $10,000 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 of 2024. New Department of Employment and Workplace Relations figures to be released today show this. That's well up from the same time period the year before, just after our secure jobs, better pay laws had passed the parliament. Agreements approved in the March quarter of 2024 covered 364,996 employees, the highest number of employees covered by newly approved agreements in over a decade. You will notice that theme of 'a decade' coming through very strongly. There were 2.14 million people covered by current enterprise agreements in the March quarter of 2024, around 480,000 more workers than when Labor came to government. The member for Dickson and his Liberals voted against secure jobs and better pay, saying our laws would close down Australia. Well, here we are. Australia's open for business. People have got a pay rise. It's 1 July 2024, and they're not just earning more; they're keeping more of what they earn because it's 1 July, and that means tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, not just some.

Australians are under pressure right now. We know they are. In my community I hear it every day. My neighbours are living it. That's why Labor is helping all Australians with the cost of living. Today is a red-letter day because today we are delivering a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer, not just some, as well as $300 energy bill relief for every Australian household and $325 for small businesses. We're delivering a freeze on the cost of PBS medicines for every Australian and more funding to build more homes in every part of the country—and that's not all. This builds on already-delivered cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE and the biggest investment ever in expanding bulk-billing.

I'm proud to be a member of the Albanese Labor government, very proud on 1 July that we're delivering for Australians, hoping like all of my colleagues that these measures make an impact in the household budget and that people feel supported by this government.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) | Link to this | Hansard source

Is motion seconded?

Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Simon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lalor talks about incredible results, talks about inflation moderating. I wonder whether the average family in Cook, my electorate, feels like this Labor government is delivering incredible results. Are real wages really going up? Yes, it's great to have a pay rise, but we need to talk about real wages. Real wages have collapsed by almost nine per cent. Real wages are when you look at what's happening to prices and then at what's happening to income. If you looked at that, you'd see electricity is up by 21½ per cent. That means it's doubling every three years. It's great to pat yourself on the back for $300 in energy relief, but bills are up by almost $1,000.

If it weren't so serious and Australians weren't doing it so tough, it would almost be laughable to celebrate $300 in bill relief when bills are up by almost $1,000. People in my electorate feel sick. They're making tough choices about what they'll eat at night and how they'll pay their school fees. They're not celebrating $300 bill relief, because the bills are up by $1,000. They're not celebrating their wages, because they know prices have gone up by far more than their wages. Gas is up by 22½ per cent. Their gas bill is doubling every three years. Home prices are up by 14 per cent, doubling every five years. For those who are renting, rents are up by 14.2 per cent, doubling every five years. Despite those wage rises you were talking about, when you look at the cost, at what these people have to spend—in the last two years—

No, they're doubling every five years. If they keep going up by 14 per cent, in five years the prices will have doubled. That's what that means.

No, let me just correct that. The member is saying that they've doubled in five years. No, they haven't. At their current rate of increase, which is 14 per cent, they will double in five years.

This Labor government does not understand that inflation in Australia is rising. I'd like the next member who speaks to explain to me why Australia's inflation is now higher than in the UK, the US, New Zealand, Canada and the euro area. In every one of these places, inflation is falling, but under Labor and the Albanese government inflation is rising. It continues to rise this year. Why are we so different from every other advanced economy in the world? What makes Australia special? Why are Australian families and Australian consumers being subjected to this inflation and these higher interest rates for longer?

I'll tell you why. You've got a Labor government that is just not prioritising cost of living. They're paying lip service to prioritising it, but they're not, because their budget is so expansionary. They have spent an extra $30,000 per household in their budget. I would ask the average Australian household: do you feel $30,000 better off? That is what this government has spent for you. Where could that money have better gone? I'm sure the average Australian family would much rather $30,000 in their bank balance than being spent on Labor's expansionary budget.

If the government were really serious about improving cost-of-living standards, they would not just look at wages but also look at productivity. Productivity is being completely ignored by this government. Productivity has contributed more than 80 per cent of the growth in Australia's living standards over the past 30 years. But what's happened to it under the Labor government? It's down 5.2 per cent this year. The Australian government cannot improve real wages, real household wealth or living standards while it's letting productivity crater. It's down 5.2 per cent just this year. I'd love to hear what the next member is planning to do about productivity. I'd love them to address this.

Instead of working on productivity-improving reforms, or working with the Labor states on stamp duty or payroll tax, they're patting themselves on the back for tax relief when wages are actually going down. They're patting themselves on the back for giving $300 in energy relief when energy bills are up $1,000. If Australians weren't doing it so tough, it would almost be laughable; the irony would be delicious. But the average Australian family is struggling. They see through these supposed tax cuts and through this supposed energy bill relief. They see straight through it because they know they're worse off.

Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor has already delivered cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE—that actually helps productivity—and the biggest investment ever in expanding bulk-billing. This is all part of a longer term economic plan, helping Australians right now, working to bring down inflation and planning a future made in Australia. We know there's more to do, and we'll keep working every day to deliver for every Australian.

That's why today is an exciting day, because it is the day that our government's further cost-of-living relief measures kick in. From today, 1 July, every Australian taxpayer will receive a tax cut. From today every Australian household will get $300 off their energy bill over the next year, and $325 off for small businesses. From today there will be a freeze on the cost of PBS medicines, making medication cheaper for every Australian. From today the Albanese Labor government is increasing funding to build more homes across Australia. From today 2.6 million workers will be receiving another consecutive pay rise.

The government's decision to advocate on behalf of low-paid workers in three consecutive Fair Work Commission annual wage reviews has delivered astounding results. There has been a $5.30 per hour average increase in full-time award workers' earnings in the Albanese Labor government's first term. That's an extra $200 per week, or $10,400 per year, before tax. We have overseen a $3.77 per hour increase in the minimum wage in our first term. For a full-time minimum wage worker, that's an extra $143 per week, or $7,451 a year, before tax. A full-time minimum wage worker's annual salary has gone from $40,175 to $47,627 in just over two years. This is what happens when you have a government that goes in to bat for low-paid workers. When you show up at the commission and advocate for people who are doing it tough, you get results.

It took the coalition their entire wasted decade in office to lift the minimum wage by as much as we have in our first term. We know people are under pressure, and pay rises are a tangible way our government is helping. Just imagine how much worse things would have been for families if the Liberals had had their way and these pay rises had never happened. That's because the previous coalition government never once argued for a rise in the minimum wage—not once! We know that the previous coalition government kept wages low as a deliberate design feature of their economic architecture. That's their DNA. That's one of the few promises they actually delivered on.

The Albanese Labor government's approach to workplace relations is delivering incredible results, with nearly half a million more workers covered by enterprise agreements and award workers benefiting from $10,000 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 of 2024. New Department of Employment and Workplace Relations figures show that's well up from the same time period of the year before, just after our secure jobs, better pay laws passed the parliament. Agreements approved in the March quarter of 2024 covered 364,996 employees—the highest number of employees covered by newly approved agreements in over a decade. There were 2.14 million people covered by a current enterprise agreement in the March quarter of 2024—around 480,000 more workers since Labor came to government.

Peter Dutton and his Liberals voted against secure jobs, better pay laws, saying that our laws would close down Australia. Oh, my goodness. The coalition had voted against every single one of our workplace relations measures. Of course, we recently learned that their industrial relations spokesperson, Senator Cash, has given her support to the New South Wales Liberal Party's WorkChoices-style policy platform. In a leaked letter to the New South Wales Liberal Party, Senator Cash said that their platform had several good ideas that align with the coalition's approach to industrial relations. What are their good ideas, according to Senator Cash? They include: making it easier to sack people, abolishing the better off overall test, removing rights as a condition of employment and removing award protections for thousands of workers.

What we know about these policies that Senator Cash has endorsed is that they would remove minimum pay and conditions for truckies, nurses, schoolteachers, Australian Federal Police officers, shop assistants, early childhood educators and coalmine workers. Under the Albanese government, more Australians are working, more Australians are earning more and more Australians keep more of what they earn. (Time expired)

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the next member, we've had, I would say, around 20 minutes of a very noisy chamber. I've had a very hard time listening to the member. Please keep the interjections to an absolute bare minimum. The person on their feet has the right to be heard.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about Labor's cost-of-living crisis. Once again, we have a motion from those opposite that proclaims that addressing the cost of living is their No. 1 concern and priority. If that's true then it's a very sad indictment on the competency of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. Australians aren't stupid. They're not silly and they can see through the spin of those opposite. Every time they get a bill in the letterbox or reach the cash register at the supermarket, they understand that things aren't getting better.

I know Australians are tired of the constant nitpicking of the major parties, and I think we have heard that loud and clear. But facts do matter, and they have to be called out because that is in the national interest. After two years of Labor the cost of essentials has increased significantly as follows: food is up 11.4 per cent, housing is up 14 per cent, rents are up 14.2 per cent, electricity is up 21.5 per cent, gas is up 22.2 per cent, health is up 11.1 per cent and education is up 10.9 per cent. And yet here we are today with another motion pretending that low-income earners under their watch are somehow better off. Who do you think those additional costs affect the most? Of course it's the low-income earners in Australia. The minor increases in take-home pay that those opposite are bragging about here today—shamefully—are eaten up by the inflated cost of living and the potential interest rate hikes.

Tackling inflation should be the government's No. 1 priority. Instead they've introduced $315 billion in new spending with absolutely nothing to show for it. While inflation tracks down across most of the developed world, ours is tracking upwards. Last week's release of the monthly consumer price index likely removes all hope—hope has been dashed—of the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates anytime soon. Headline inflation rose to four per cent, and core inflation, which is the RBA's preferred measure, rose to 4.4 per cent. This is the fourth month in a row that core inflation has headed in the wrong direction. The RBA only has one mechanism to tackle inflation and they have been left to do all of the heavy lifting. It is shameful.

More rate hikes are probably on the way, because of this government's failure to tackle homegrown inflation. Homeowners with a typical mortgage of $750,000 are already $35,000 worse off a year under this Albanese Labor government. Further rate hikes will only increase the burden on mortgage holders. So not only is the Australian dream of homeownership dead for young Australians, largely due to Labor's reckless migration program, but it is becoming a nightmare for mortgage-holders as well.

I will admit to following a few of those opposite on social media, and I have been amused by some of their recent posts. Every day, over the past few weeks, there's been a bit of a countdown and a few updates: 'Only 10 days till the tax cuts come into effect,' then nine days, then eight days and so on. Well, we are finally here. Hooray. Don't get me wrong. I am very pleased that taxpayers are getting to keep more of their own money, because, as Liberal and National party members, that's what we believe: that Australians should keep more of what they earn. Australians certainly know how to spend it better than those opposite.

But let's not pretend that Labor suddenly cares about cutting taxes; oh, no. We know that Labor is here today taking credit for reducing taxes, but they take no responsibility for raising them. Labor is banking $60 billion worth of bracket-creep and has increased personal income tax by 20 per cent since the election. The OECD Taxing wages 2024 report found that Australia's personal income tax burden grew faster than any other advanced economy's last year.

In conclusion, I'm calling on the government: stop patting yourselves on the back with motions like this, and get on with delivering a real economic plan to restore prosperity to our nation.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | 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.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me be clear. I'm not standing before you to debate the need for those low-income earners to receive a pay rise. In this Labor-created cost-of-living crisis, it's desperately needed. In the last two years under this Prime Minister, we've seen promise after promise broken and we've seen the cost of everything going up.

Here are the facts. Under this one-term government, electricity is up by 21.5 per cent. The cost of groceries is up by 11.4 per cent. The cost of keeping a roof over our heads has gone up 14 per cent. The cost of health has gone up nine per cent. The cost of education has gone up 11 per cent. The cost of transport has gone up 13 per cent. The cost of insurance has gone up a whopping 26 per cent.

In my electorate alone, we've been inundated with calls from constituents who are struggling so severely that they are facing the threat of homelessness. We've heard from parents who have to make a choice about whether to feed themselves or feed their children. We've heard from people whose electricity bills have gone up by over $1,000. If the Labor government's claim to be doing everything they can to tackle the cost of living crisis were real, this wouldn't be happening. With this wage increase, those Australians who the Albanese Labor government claim to care about are going to see an increase in their salary of just over $30 a week. There is no way that this government can celebrate this when the cost of living or the cost of simply existing has gone up so much more for everybody in Australia.

Instead of curbing the cost of living, the Albanese Labor government were happy to spend $450 million on a failed voice referendum in the time when people needed our help. Those opposite are happy to spend trillions of dollars on a renewable energy fantasy that is going to see thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land and native vegetation wiped out and replaced with 28,000 kilometres of poles and wires, solar farms and wind turbines that will only provide Australia with part-time power and unreliable energy. Those opposite have implemented tax after tax on major industries, penalising the hardworking Australians who greatly contribute to our economy, making it more difficult than ever to be able to buy a house or put food on the table. Those opposite have axed foreign-worker schemes and implemented restrictions on remaining foreign-worker schemes, making it almost impossible for our farmers to afford to operate and get their food from paddock to plate, which is driving up the cost of living even more. Those opposite have passed their family car and ute tax, which will force car prices to increase by up to $25,000. That's not even taking into account the fact that some of these price increases could push vehicle costs up so high that they'll also incur the luxury car sales tax on top of that.

To make matters worse, those opposite have now voted to close down the live sheep export industry and to spend $107 million of taxpayer money to do so. Why is the Albanese Labor government shutting down an entire industry and destroying people's ability to make a living when we're in a cost-of-living crisis? I just don't get it. For some of these farmers, their families have worked their land for up to six generations, and it's all they've known. What are they meant to do now?

Those opposite have voted to employ 36,000 more bureaucrats in Canberra, at a cost of over $24 billion over the forwards. And those opposite want to pay Minister Shorten's NDIS speechwriter $600,000 over two years. Those opposite even sat on their hands when my colleagues and I called on them, time and time again, for an ACCC inquiry into supermarket price gouging.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 18 : 01 to 18:13

I have to ask seriously: is all of this just a joke to those on that side of the House? It truly defies all rational thinking. It shows the Prime Minister's ineptitude as a leader and lack of genuine care for the Australian public.

This motion is an insult to the people of Australia. It is an insult to the people on this side of the House, who wake up each and every day and try to make a positive change. The Albanese Labor government is failing and needs to do better.

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

I'd like to thank the member for Lalor for moving a motion today in light of how it's now 1 July and the final countdown is now over. This morning, 13.6 million Australian taxpayers woke up to a tax cut, and 2.6 million of those who are on award wages and earn the minimum wage also woke up to a pay rise. Those workers now experiencing their third 1 July under the Albanese Labor government may now be sensing a trend emerging: a trend that is seeing them earn more and, indeed, earn more than they would've if the Morrison government won at the last election.

We've heard over the course of this debate the member for Durack, member for Dawson, member for Cook—maybe I can forgive the member for Cook; he's only just been elected to this place. He's not been here for very long. But I have to say that the member for Durack has been here long enough to understand the policy settings by which their government went about oppressing wage growth in this country. I see a chuckle from the member for Riverina over there. He loves to come into this place and talk about how he's been a union member for 21 years and is so proud of it. I've heard it so many times I can't forget it!

The reality is that, before I came to this place, which was only two years ago, I did work at a union, representing some of the lowest-paid workers in the transport sector. What really gets my gripe on this is that it was a deliberate design feature of the previous government to keep wages down. For my electorate of Spence, where 74,000 people are going to get a bigger tax cut this year, they had to go through that period in 2013 when the then treasurer, Joe Hockey, along with the prime minister of the time—Abbott—decided to threaten GMH to walk away from car manufacturing. It left an absolute hole in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. It ripped carnage through my electorate. We were promised by Tony Abbott that there would be a new horizon and new job offerings, but they never came. We have some of the most disadvantaged people in the country in my electorate, earning some of the lowest wages, and to hear that there was a deliberate design feature to keep wages down is nothing short of appalling. It is absolutely disgusting that you can come into the chamber and think that that's okay.

These are people who today have received a $33.10 increase to their weekly pay packet. It's a significant increase and it makes a huge difference. I know there's a lot of joking that goes on in this place, but laughing about low- and middle-income earners who are doing it tough right now—it's no laughing matter. Every day, when I get up and get out in my electorate, I have to listen and talk to these people who are doing it tough. I am extremely proud of the work that our government has done over the last two years. There have been three consecutive pay rises under the annual wage review, and that has only been possible because of the advocacy of this government. The last increase, at 3.75 per cent, is significant.

I can hear the member for Riverina huffing and puffing. He does this to me all the time when I'm sitting in the chair! But the reality is that those people that are on low wages right now do need a lot more help, and that's what we are doing. That's why we have delivered bigger tax cuts under this government. That's why we advocated for an annual wage review increase above CPI. That's why we have been able to deliver it three times consecutively now. I'm extremely proud that that's what we've been able to achieve. That's what good Labor governments do: we deliver for working-class Australians, for mums and dads, for people doing it tough out there. So I do stand here as a proud member of a Labor government today, extremely proud of what we've been able to deliver in the way of tax cuts but equally as proud of delivering an increase of 3.75 per cent to some of the lowest-paid workers in this country both on the minimum wage and on awards. With that, I thank the House.

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

I rise to speak on this motion put forward by the member for Lalor, and, in doing so, I note that from today, 1 July 2024, the national minimum wage will increase to $915.90 per week, or $24.10 per hour, and award minimum wages will increase by 3.75 per cent. Other award wages, including junior apprentice and supported wages that are based on adult minimum wages, will get a proportionate increase. What Labor members don't understand—because not too many of them have ever run businesses—is that someone pays for that. Small business, like every other sector of the economy, are hurting at the moment. They're very much doing it tough, and those small-business owners and operators didn't get much, if any, relief in the recent federal budget handed down in May. They did get a slight increase in the instant asset write-off, but it is down considerably from what we'd put in place when we were in government.

I heard the Treasurer today in question time again—and I will say it—being deliberately misleading by saying that there was a trillion dollars of Liberal Party debt. Well, when Labor came to office in May 2022, there was nowhere near a trillion dollars worth of debt. It'll probably, ultimately, get to that under Labor. But we had had something called COVID-19 to deal with, and, despite the global pandemic, 1.1 million jobs were created since that global pandemic hit in 2020 and 11½ million Australians benefited from tax relief. There's been no mention of that. We talk a lot in here, and I hear Labor members talking about stage 3 tax cuts, but there's been no mention of stages 1 and 2. They were important to put into place. Of trade and exports, 71.3 per cent are covered by free trade agreements. We know that one in five—perhaps even as high as one in four in regional Australia—jobs are covered by an FTA. There were 815,600 female business operators, which is something that we should be very proud of as coalition members, and that was a figure from August 2021. That is significant—a record high of 220 trade apprentices.

Labor goes on ad nauseam—it's almost boring in its repetition—about the deliberate design feature of keeping wages low. I remember that interview by former Minister for Finance Senator Mathias Cormann as well, and there was no deliberate design feature. But what we were achieving with our economic policies was a balance. I heard the member for Spence say that I was a union member for 21 years. The fact that he can recall my exact number of years in a trade union movement is kinda scary, but, anyway, it's accurate. There is a balance between unions doing what they do in workplaces, employers being able to employ more people to be able to actually take home money themselves and people being paid a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. I don't think any of us in this parliament would dispute that, but it's about getting and achieving the right balance.

At the moment, we shouldn't be talking about minimum wages. We should be talking about real wages. Real wages are lower now than what they were when we lost office, and I'll tell you why. It's because the disposable income for the average everyday Australian is being eroded by higher power prices, by higher grocery bills and by the mere fact that the cost-of-living crisis is very much biting and hurting people, particularly in the regions. We've got a government which is paying farmers to stop farming. They've given $107 million to Western Australian sheep farmers to phase out the live exports.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Shame.

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

It is a shame, Member for Durack, and I see the member for O'Connor sitting there nodding in agreement too about the fact that this is a terrible piece of legislation. It won't just have effects in Western Australia; it will be right across the nation, because our farmers will be earning less. Our farmers are copping it in the neck all of the time. But this should not be a debate about minimum wages; it should be a debate about real wages and what Labor is doing to address the cost-of-living crisis which has come about on their watch.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Riverina. 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 the next sitting.