QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:48): That's exactly what the government are doing. We are cutting taxes to put more money in people's pockets. We are supporting wage increases, and have done so consistently since coming to government.

Real wage outcomes are growing and they have had a three in front of them, for the first time in a decade, since we came to government, because we on this side of the chamber understand how important wage increases every year are to make sure you can balance the household budget. Now, inflation is higher than we would like—we can see that in the budget papers—and wages haven't grown as fast as we would like.

That's why we have been so supportive of the annual wage claims and why we've consistently done everything we can, including in aged care and early education and care, to give those workers the pay rises that they deserve—something that had been ignored for the decade before we came to government. The PRESIDENT: Senator Roberts, second supplementary?