Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I think the opposition have had to dust off the dodgy calculator that they used to put budgets together in the past, to come up with this set of numbers that they keep shouting across the chamber. This budget is a very strong budget for all Australians. We don't seek to divide as they do. We don't seek to carve up the country into a series of demographics and different age groups and different income groups. We make decisions on what is right for the country based on the economic circumstances of the time. That is why the cost-of-living package is targeted.

But here are some things in the budget that they did not take into account. We have the fastest wage growth since 2009. Real wages are growing, with a historic lift in wages for aged-care workers. How about that? What about the low unemployment? More people are earning more in more jobs.

Honourable senators interjecting—