Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this matter of public importance, and it is an important and urgent matter—that is, the lack of any plan by the Morrison government to address slowing economic growth and stagnant wages. Last week this government watched as the clock ticked over six years of their inaction on this economy. After six years of the Liberal-National government the economy has slowed, wages are stagnating and Australians are struggling with the cost of living. Under this government, Australians are working harder and going backwards.

I know that this government would prefer to speak about anything else except its economic record. It would prefer to talk about Labor, but the facts are very clear: wages are growing at just one sixth of the pace of profits—the worst wages growth on record—economic growth is at the lowest level since the global financial crisis, productivity is going backwards, net debt has more than doubled and 1.8 million Australians are looking for work or are underemployed. This mismanagement of the economy has led to a decline in living standards and record household debt, increasing by $650 billion. Last week the Reserve Bank Governor, Dr Philip Lowe, finally weighed in, calling for a three per cent wage rise for public sector workers. Dr Lowe said that wage caps of two to 2.5 per cent were helping to depress wages by setting the standard in the private sector. The RBA wants wages to go up, but this government has no plan to make that happen.

What this government do have a plan to do is cut penalty rates. They've already done that. They've already cut penalty rates for hospitality workers, and who knows who is next? They do have a plan to attack workers and unions who use their limited rights that they have to bargain for better wages. Last week I stood on a picket line with workers in Brisbane doing just that—bargaining for better wages. I have to say, it was the best picket line I've been to in a long time, because there was an abundance of Italian food at this picket line, and it was a fantastic way to find out what was really going on at the company and how the workers had been treated. They haven't seen a dramatic change in six years; all they've seen is their working conditions going backwards.

Workers at O-I glass, a highly profitable US owned glass manufacturer, know that you don't get a pay rise just by asking your boss nicely. They are currently taking protected industrial action because their employer won't lift their wages. Instead, their employer has threatened to tear up their agreement and put workers back on award wages. That's under this government; that's what employers are threatening to do. These workers just want a fair go. You know that saying that we've all heard, 'If you have a go, you get a go,'—that sort of thing? Well, seven weeks on, they are still waiting. How much longer will they have to wait under this government? The government has no plan to help these workers or to help them bargain fairly. They have—or, should I say, Senator Stoker certainly has—a plan to make it easier to sack workers if they're not the right fit for a company. Do you know what would make a person a bad fit for a company? Someone who asks for fairer wages, union members who stand on picket lines, union members who wear stickers on their hats or fly a flag on a construction site.

This raises a very important issue about this government and this Prime Minister. Since the election, the Prime Minister has set his agenda based on what he considers a test for Labor. It is very telling what the government is prepared to test Labor on, but it's what they won't test Labor on that paints a clearer picture. Why isn't this government prepared to test Labor on the true state of this economy? Because it's worse than it was since during the GFC. Why isn't the government prepared to test Labor on low wages? Because it is wages that the RBA says need to go up. Why isn't the government prepared to test Labor on infrastructure spending? They promised money during the election, but it won't be spent in regional Queensland for another four years. We're going to be waiting for those roads to be built for another four years, with no jobs and no wages lifting. They don't want to test us on that, because they can't keep their promises.

The government talk a big game about the economy, and they want to lecture people like me, who grew up in a single-parent household, about the politics of envy to distract from their own mismanagement. They want to talk about aspiration, because that's all you need to get your wages growing—just an aspirational attitude and some good feelings! No-one is envying the government at this moment in time, because they have no plan to turn this ship around. No-one would aspire to be this government at this moment in time. Instead, the Prime Minister is playing games with the Australian people and the parliament.

The true test for a prime minister isn't how effectively he wedges the opposition. The true test for a prime minister isn't how well he divides our country. Prime ministers are remembered for what they build, how they run the economy and what they do to improve the lives of the most vulnerable people in our society. Prime Minister Tony Abbott was tested, and he failed. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was tested, and he failed as well. Six years after the election of the coalition, it is clear that this Prime Minister and those opposite are not up to the test of managing the economy.

The Morrison government want to blame everybody else. They want to use terms like 'international factors', 'international circumstances', 'difficult economic environment' and 'state government issues'. But Labor isn't here to talk down the economy. The facts are facts. The Liberals want to talk about anything except their poor economic record, but let's forget about figures and percentages for a minute. If you spend some time in a factory, on a picket line or at an aged-care facility, you would know how this economy makes people feel. Wages that pay the bills aren't a big ask. Wages that keep up with profits aren't a lot to ask for. But when you don't have them you feel it—trust me. We don't need lectures from those opposite to tell us people are struggling. Under this government, there's no plan to make that struggling stop.

Finally, can I say this: today in question time, senators from this side of the chamber asked some straightforward questions about this government's plan to help the economy and lift wages, but those opposite couldn't answer a single question without attacking Labor. If that is this government's economic policy—to attack Labor and to dodge the hard questions—then the state of our economy will get worse and worse. Australian families deserve better than this government. Regional Queenslanders certainly deserve better than this government. Regional Queenslanders deserve the roads that they were promised at the last election. Workers deserve better wages. The workers standing on that picket line in Brisbane deserve to have their wages case listened to. They deserve to have wages that are fair and that reflect the work that they are doing and what they give back to that company. What they don't deserve is to have to stand on the side of the road to demand them. It's time for this government to take action, to get moving and to start driving our economy.

Finally, with the very last minute that I have, I just want to make a comment on something that is very dear to my heart. I hope you don't mind indulging me. The Cairns State High School girls soccer team is playing in the national final tomorrow, and I want to say to them that they've achieved an amazing thing by making the national final. They've travelled all the way down from Cairns, and I wish them the absolute best. I know that they will do Cairns proud. So thank you very much.