Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) | Hansard source

What I'd say to Senator Birmingham is that this is a government that is working to bring down inflation, this is a government that is working to provide cheaper medicines, this is a government that is working to provide cheaper child care and, most importantly, unlike those opposite, this is a government that is working to lift wages. We do not think that the response to the cost-of-living crunch that Australians are experiencing is lower wages. That is always the Liberal way—a deliberate design feature of the Australian economy.

We want to keep real wages moving. We want to keep wages moving. What we have seen under this government is that wages are moving. I know that is not something those opposite support, but it is something that matters to wage earners around this country because a decent wage is the pathway to financial security.