Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Working people are being made to absorb the economic pain caused by extreme wealth in this country. The Reserve Bank has just confirmed what workers across the nation already know: their wages are not keeping up with the cost of essentials and are not expected to meaningfully grow until the end of 2027. At the same time, inflation has spiked again, and people with debt are being asked to pay the price in the form of higher interest payments. That means another year where working households fall further and further behind through no fault of their own.

Nurses, cleaners, teachers and tradies are working hard, paying their taxes and trying to keep up with growing prices, yet their purchasing power keeps shrinking. Not only are these workers paying more tax than a third of big corporations in Australia, but—as we are told by the Reserve Bank—their wages are now not keeping pace with the cost of essential groceries and things that are important to every household in this country, especially the cost of housing—of mortgages and of rent.

House prices and rents are completely out of control in this country. We are in a severe housing crisis. Yet, instead of reforming tax concessions that are fuelling that house price spike and fuelling inequality, the government is presiding over falling real wages, rising interest rates and a tax system where workers are hit harder than millionaires and billionaires. This is not just an economic failure; it's a political choice with serious consequences for intergenerational inequality.

This government is responsible for a system that tackles inflation by suppressing the household income of workers while protecting housing wealth and corporate profits. Until a Labor government is willing to confront the concentration of wealth in the country, working people will keep paying the price of inequality. Until they're willing to fix the tax system and take those big tax breaks away from wealthy property hoarders, the housing crisis will get worse. (Time expired)