Doorstop interview: Stagnant wages and cost of living

DR ANNE ALY MP: Good morning everyone, how are you this morning? Ok, so this morning on the front page of the newspaper we’ve seen that the Treasury has issued a warning that Australians are having to dip into their savings because they’re just not seeing any growth in their wages. And it’s like Bill Shorten says, everything seems to be going up except wages.

 

This government has failed to deliver to Australians a guarantee about their cost of living, to ensure that Australians are able to afford the essential things like healthcare and education and just even food on the table. I’ve seen this in my electorate, I’ve seen this in Cowan. Just a couple of weeks ago I went and met with Blue Sky, which is a financial counselling service in Cowan and they told me that they’ve seen an immeasurable increase in the number of people coming in to seek financial counselling because of the level of debt they’re in, and because, primarily because, their wages have remained stagnant for so long.

 

Now let’s not forget Scott Morrison’s record on this. As Treasurer, he voted eight times to cut penalty rates. Eight times to cut penalty rates. This government just isn’t meeting the needs of everyday Australians. We’ve seen it today with the Treasury’s announcement and its warning. We cannot keep going on this way where people cannot afford the basics of living.

 

Questions. None? This is good. Thanks so much.