Senate debates

Wednesday, 12 May 2021

Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers

Budget

3:19 pm

Photo of Ben SmallBen Small (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think the Labor Party have jumped ahead a couple of steps, because, when we talk about wage growth in Australia, that obviously implies that someone has a job, and thanks to the economic stewardship of the Morrison government through the most calamitous economic event to beset this nation since the Great Depression, 75,000 more Australians are in work than were in work in March 2020. So I think, to set the record straight today, it's worth cutting through the spin that we hear from those opposite and going back to where this nation was in March last year. At that time, Treasury feared that unemployment would reach 15 per cent and that the economy would contract by an incredible 20 per cent. That would have taken two million Australians out of work, Senator Ciccone—not in terms of giving them a wage cut but throwing them out of employment entirely. In fact, in the first few weeks of the pandemic, we saw almost a million Australians lose their job or be stood down with no hours to work. How far we have come! Now 13.1 million Australians—or 75,000 more than at the start of the pandemic—are in work. That represents an unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent, which happens to be lower than that bequeathed to us by the Labor Party. Let's not forget that their big-taxing, big-spending agenda had more Australians on the unemployment queues than the economic stewardship of the Morrison government.

What does that actually deliver for Australians? Aside from the enjoyment of the benefits of work, such as connectivity to their communities and the ability to contribute to their families, that 5.6 per cent unemployment rate and a trajectory towards full employment increases the pressure in the labour market that will naturally drive wages growth in this country. So, once we see the economy continuing to recover from this global pandemic and once we see even more Australians in work, which is the fervent hope of everyone over here on the government benches, we will see higher levels of wage growth and higher levels of prosperity. And, ultimately, it is those healthy and wealthy societies like ours that concentrate on delivering services for the most vulnerable in our communities. At the end of the day, it is the sort of economic comeback that we see here in Australia today that pays for the increases in NDIS funding and that pays for the increased funding to record levels for our aged-care sector. That is the achievement of a strong economy. The Prime Minister, the Treasurer and those in the Morrison government don't talk about a strong economy for the sake of it. We're not obsessing over the numbers on page 37 of Budget Paper No. 1 and trying to find something to quibble over. Instead we're focused on the lived reality out there in the Australian community and improving it for future generations of Australians.

That's the achievement that we see here today. Whilst the economies of the UK, France and Italy contracted by eight per cent last year, and Japan and Canada contracted by five per cent, Australia's economic contraction was limited to just 2½ per cent, and we are returning to growth in the 2021-22 financial year. Incredibly, we're talking about GDP growth of 4.25 per cent in the financial year ahead. That is the benefit of the Morrison government's economic stewardship, and that is what will deliver wages growth in Australia going forward. The outcome that we see today was driven by stronger growth in private sector wages, which increased by 0.7 per cent to be 1.4 per cent higher than they were a year ago. So the wage price index in Australia has increased to be 1.4 per cent higher than it was a year ago. But the Morrison government isn't done yet. No, we're not resting on our laurels after delivering the strongest quarterly outcome in private sector wage growth since March 2014 and, in fact, the second-best quarterly result under this government. We will continue to manage the economy, promote full employment, keep Australians in work, and deliver for those most vulnerable Australians, who rely on a strong economy to provide the safety net that they depend on.

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