QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Ms RISHWORTH (Kingston—Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) (14:55): I thank the member for Richmond for that question, but also for her commitment to back Australians to earn more and retire with more. It's this Labor government that is absolutely committed to delivering real change for Australians by getting wages moving and providing economic security in retirement.
When it comes to wages, our government has advocated for an increase to the minimum wage every year that we have been in government. This Labor government funded significant pay rises for aged-care workers and early educators. Thousands of workers are getting pay rises from our same job, same pay reforms, and we've legislated to protect penalty and overtime rates for modern-award-reliant workers.
We've improved bargaining to deliver higher wages for workers. Not only has this government been focused on getting wages moving, but we've also focused on ensuring workers get dignity in retirement. It is this Labor government that ensured that we legislated the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent and to make sure it was achieved.
It is this Labor government that passed legislation to ensure that superannuation is paid on the same day as wages, and it's this Labor government that is now paying superannuation on government paid parental leave, because our government is committed to ensuring that Australians not only earn more but retire with dignity. I'm asked if there are any risks to this delivery.
We know that the biggest risk to pay packets of Australians is those opposite—the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation. We all remember the former coalition government boasting that low wages were a deliberate design feature of their economic architecture, and, along with One Nation, they voted against every single measure that is delivering wage increases for workers.
When it comes to retirement savings, it was the coalition that, when in government, froze the superannuation guarantee increase for six years, leaving millions of workers worse off in retirement. This freeze was enthusiastically backed by One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts. One Nation and the Liberals are still on a unity ticket to decimate Australia's retirement incomes.
One Nation and the coalition have made it clear to workers: the only way for hardworking Australians to get a pay increase is to raid their retirement savings. You might be wondering why. Those opposite have always been anti-worker and they always will be anti-worker.
It is only this Labor government that's backing Australian workers now and in retirement.