PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr VENNING (Grey) (10:19): This Labor government changed the standing rules to ban that four-letter word that rhymes with 'pies', and they did that so they could bring forward motions like this. Labor tells us that Australians are earning more and keeping more of what they earn. But is that really true?
Absolutely not—and you don't need a damn spreadsheet to quantify it. You'll find the answer by merely walking about this place and asking any Australian whether they feel more economically secure today than they did four years ago. In nominal terms, wages are up 14 per cent, which sounds great until we come to the reality and you put this number into real terms after inflation.
For those playing along at home, do you really think real wages have gone up, or have they gone down? Well, if you guessed 'down', well done. Real wages have gone down 1.7 per cent over Labor's term of government.
So, contrary to the spin we hear about 'earning more under Labor', you, in fact, are earning less. But Australians aren't just earning less; they're keeping less of what they earn. While Labor's new, toxic taxes are punishing aspiration, bracket creep is quietly taxing Australians more and more each and every day.
After four years of Labor, this sneaky tax grab is leaving the average Australian $2,000 a year worse off. But I come bearing some good news, because the coalition has a plan to fix this. Our tax-back guarantee will end bracket creep by indexing tax brackets to inflation.
We will deliver real tax reform that is fair, simple and honest. While the coalition has a plan to fix the economy and restore our way of life, Labor's fiscal failure is sending Australia backwards. Under Labor, Australians are earning less and keeping less of what they earn.
And this is no accident. Labour productivity is the fundamental, long-run driver of real wage growth, and what could possibly have nosedived since Labor came to office? Productivity!
Labor has presided over more bureaucracy, more regulation and more red tape. It's no wonder that real wages are going backwards. While bracket creep is costing the average worker $2,000 a year, Labor are congratulating themselves on giving you back up to $268 a year—roughly 73c a day.
That's 73c a day set against electricity prices, which are up 40 per cent; gas, up 40 per cent; and food prices, up 18 per cent. That is not 'keeping more of what you earn'; that is paying for a feast and getting served a toastie. On paid parental leave, the coalition's stance is clear.
We support paid parental leave and have no plans to change the current scheme. The debate is not about whether families should receive it; the debate is about flexibility and choice. Labor tells families they are getting six months of leave from 1 July.
What Labor doesn't tell them is that, in a two-parent household, four weeks are reserved on a 'use it or lose it' basis. The primary carer can generally access 22 weeks, not 26. If the other parent cannot take those four weeks, the family does not get them.
They are lost. Families hear '26 weeks', but many will only see 22. Every family is different.
They have different work arrangements, different finances and different caring responsibilities. In my electorate, the second parent is often the farmer midseeding or the shift worker on a roster. These are not jobs from which you can just take four weeks off because a scheme designed in Canberra said so.
When the leave runs out, families in Grey meet the next problem: the worst access to child care in Australia, where only two in three children can get a place. The coalition's approach is simple: we will trust families and restore choice. Parents, not politicians, know what is best for their children, and government should support the choices families make, not dictate arrangements made by Labor.
This House is being asked to congratulate a government for making Australians poorer. I will not do it.