Page 3972 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 29 November 2022
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response to increased energy prices ahead of next week’s national cabinet meeting. This package of support from the federal government, which, of course, is the government that provides income support at the greatest level in this nation, as a result of its taxation and constitutional responsibilities, is expected to lower energy costs for struggling consumers via a range of different measures, including direct energy price subsidies. I look forward to hearing more from the commonwealth ahead of next week’s national cabinet meeting.
Of course, it is not just direct cash or concessions that both the territory government and the federal government can provide. Obviously, the federal government provides income support, rent assistance and a range of other measures. There is also investment in our social safety net. My amendment touches on the importance of investing in health care, education and programs and projects that keep people in employment.
It is clear that if you have a job your income is likely to be higher, and often considerably higher, than those who do not have a job. Obviously, it depends on the number of hours you work and how that interrelates with whatever social security payment you might have been on, but, generally speaking, if you are employed that is going to help in addressing your cost of living pressures.
The next thing that can help you is to be paid a fair and decent wage. I note the announcement over the weekend from ACT Senator David Pocock that he will be supporting the commonwealth government’s industrial relations legislation that aims to get wages moving again and to provide more support for low income earners through a change in the bargaining arrangements under Australia’s industrial relations framework. I note that, under the Constitution, the territories operate in the federal industrial relations system, so this impending change in commonwealth industrial relations law is very pertinent for low income workers in the ACT.
It is designed to—and even its critics acknowledge that it will—lead to increased wages. In any debate about cost of living there is the expense side but there is also the income side for any household budget. If you earn more, you are in a better position to meet increased costs. Obviously, if you are in employment you are in a better position to meet increased costs.
We do note that there will always be a section of the community who, for a variety of reasons, will not be in full-time paid employment. The other concession that Senator Pocock was able to extract from, and that was agreed by, the federal Labor government was an annual review of commonwealth social security payments and their fitness for purpose ahead of each commonwealth budget. I think that is an important outcome to assess whether more can be done in terms of income support. Whilst it is important that there are a range of measures in place and policies that are seeking to put downward pressure on price increases, it is equally important that, after a period of a decade of anaemic wage growth, particularly outside of the public sector, we get wages moving again.
I note that Ms Lee did not touch on that at all in her remarks. I guess the question remains: what does the Liberal Party think about increased wages? I know Mathias Cormann said when he was interviewed on Sky News—no more authoritative source
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