❓ Question regarding the potential job losses in WA due to the Federal Labor's living wage proposal. The Treasurer declines to call on Bill Shorten to abandon the policy, highlighting weak wage growth and defending the government's fiscal management.
AnsweredQoN 178Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
LIVING WAGE PROPOSAL — FEDERAL LABOR POLICY
178. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Treasurer:
Mr S.A. MILLMAN : Mr Speaker.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Mr Speaker!
Several members interjected.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : I've
got a broken knee!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, we have
the ''Battle of Wounded Knee''! Member for Scarborough.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I refer to today's
statements by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia that Bill Shorten's promise to enact the Australian Council of Trade
Unions' living wage proposal would cost Western Australian jobs.
As the Treasurer who is overseeing
the highest number of Western Australians without a job in the state's
history, I ask the Treasurer whether he will call on Bill Shorten to abandon
this policy that will result in even more Western Australians being without a job?
178. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Treasurer:
Mr S.A. MILLMAN : Mr Speaker.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Mr Speaker!
Several members interjected.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : I've
got a broken knee!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, we have
the ''Battle of Wounded Knee''! Member for Scarborough.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I refer to today's
statements by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia that Bill Shorten's promise to enact the Australian Council of Trade
Unions' living wage proposal would cost Western Australian jobs.
As the Treasurer who is overseeing
the highest number of Western Australians without a job in the state's
history, I ask the Treasurer whether he will call on Bill Shorten to abandon
this policy that will result in even more Western Australians being without a job?
AnswerView source ↗
I am not entirely sure what the
question was. Does the member want me to call on Bill Shorten? Sorry, I missed
the question bit.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : The CCI said
that Bill Shorten's policy to enact the ACTU's living wage
proposal will cost WA jobs. That is what the CCI said. I am asking the
Treasurer whether he will call on Bill Shorten to abandon the policy in the
interest of WA jobs?
Mr B.S. WYATT : No, I will
not. Obviously Bill Shorten and the federal Labor opposition will develop
policies and take them to the election, very soon, I suspect. The people of
Australia and Western Australia will make their decision. That is the beauty of
an election—a campaign based on ideas. To be honest, what federal Labor
has done has been very impressive. It is not a small target. Interestingly, the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia has raised with me and
made public comments about the problems of weak wage growth. This is something
that has been broadly identified from as high up as the Governor —
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Hillarys!
Mr B.S. WYATT : The Governor of
the Reserve Bank of Australia has made comments about the problems more broadly
across the nation around persistent weak wages growth. Indeed, I am critiqued
in this place by the opposition about the data around retail for example. What
do you think, opposition—for your benefit, Mr Speaker, as a hypothetical
question—one of the main reasons for weak retail trading data is about?
Several members interjected.
Mr B.S. WYATT : If I could
float a —
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr P.A. Katsambanis : He asked
us a question!
The SPEAKER : Yes, but he
wanted only one answer, not 100.
Mr B.S. WYATT : If I could
float a hypothetical answer, I suspect money in people's pockets might
have an impact around that.
Several members interjected.
Mr B.S. WYATT : What I heard —
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Hillarys, you are very excited today.
Mr B.S. WYATT : I heard by way
of interjection, I think from the member for Hillarys, about the data being
around confidence. I want to make some comments around confidence. When I became
Treasurer, after the final year of the former Liberal government, the
confidence level in the business sector was at the same level that it was
during the global financial crisis. The point I have made in this place before
is that when the businesses of Western Australia were asked the question, ''Do
you prefer the current Liberal state government or global financial Armageddon?''
they chose global financial Armageddon. That gives members opposite some idea
some idea what they thought about you mob! We have seen confidence figures
growing at record rates—yes, off levels that the former Liberal
government left that were diabolical.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr B.S. WYATT : I want to make one final point. Ultimately, if
members opposite want to advocate to Bill Shorten , they can go for it.
However, I suspect that, ultimately, Scott Morrison will provide a suite of
policies and Bill Shorten will provide a suite of policies and in due course we
will go to the ballot box and make a decision on that. One point I made time
and again when I sat on the opposition side of the house—at the time,
the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia did not have much to
say, to be honest—was that if a government like the former Liberal–National
government makes decisions around debt and spending and pushes us into large
operating deficits for consecutive years, it eats into the capacity of future
governments to make decisions based on the economic circumstances they might
find. That is why in the first two budgets—we are in the middle of the
third one—we have spent a lot of time repairing the balance sheet so
that when I finish my time as Treasurer, I do not leave the next Treasurer with
a balance sheet that does not allow them to respond to the economic
circumstances they find. We will continue to do that. It is not easy because we
have to make decisions we prefer not to make. But I know that, more broadly, Western
Australia wants a government that leaves the finances in a much better position
than they were when it found them, and that is what I am determined to do.
question was. Does the member want me to call on Bill Shorten? Sorry, I missed
the question bit.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : The CCI said
that Bill Shorten's policy to enact the ACTU's living wage
proposal will cost WA jobs. That is what the CCI said. I am asking the
Treasurer whether he will call on Bill Shorten to abandon the policy in the
interest of WA jobs?
Mr B.S. WYATT : No, I will
not. Obviously Bill Shorten and the federal Labor opposition will develop
policies and take them to the election, very soon, I suspect. The people of
Australia and Western Australia will make their decision. That is the beauty of
an election—a campaign based on ideas. To be honest, what federal Labor
has done has been very impressive. It is not a small target. Interestingly, the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia has raised with me and
made public comments about the problems of weak wage growth. This is something
that has been broadly identified from as high up as the Governor —
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Hillarys!
Mr B.S. WYATT : The Governor of
the Reserve Bank of Australia has made comments about the problems more broadly
across the nation around persistent weak wages growth. Indeed, I am critiqued
in this place by the opposition about the data around retail for example. What
do you think, opposition—for your benefit, Mr Speaker, as a hypothetical
question—one of the main reasons for weak retail trading data is about?
Several members interjected.
Mr B.S. WYATT : If I could
float a —
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr P.A. Katsambanis : He asked
us a question!
The SPEAKER : Yes, but he
wanted only one answer, not 100.
Mr B.S. WYATT : If I could
float a hypothetical answer, I suspect money in people's pockets might
have an impact around that.
Several members interjected.
Mr B.S. WYATT : What I heard —
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Hillarys, you are very excited today.
Mr B.S. WYATT : I heard by way
of interjection, I think from the member for Hillarys, about the data being
around confidence. I want to make some comments around confidence. When I became
Treasurer, after the final year of the former Liberal government, the
confidence level in the business sector was at the same level that it was
during the global financial crisis. The point I have made in this place before
is that when the businesses of Western Australia were asked the question, ''Do
you prefer the current Liberal state government or global financial Armageddon?''
they chose global financial Armageddon. That gives members opposite some idea
some idea what they thought about you mob! We have seen confidence figures
growing at record rates—yes, off levels that the former Liberal
government left that were diabolical.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr B.S. WYATT : I want to make one final point. Ultimately, if
members opposite want to advocate to Bill Shorten , they can go for it.
However, I suspect that, ultimately, Scott Morrison will provide a suite of
policies and Bill Shorten will provide a suite of policies and in due course we
will go to the ballot box and make a decision on that. One point I made time
and again when I sat on the opposition side of the house—at the time,
the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia did not have much to
say, to be honest—was that if a government like the former Liberal–National
government makes decisions around debt and spending and pushes us into large
operating deficits for consecutive years, it eats into the capacity of future
governments to make decisions based on the economic circumstances they might
find. That is why in the first two budgets—we are in the middle of the
third one—we have spent a lot of time repairing the balance sheet so
that when I finish my time as Treasurer, I do not leave the next Treasurer with
a balance sheet that does not allow them to respond to the economic
circumstances they find. We will continue to do that. It is not easy because we
have to make decisions we prefer not to make. But I know that, more broadly, Western
Australia wants a government that leaves the finances in a much better position
than they were when it found them, and that is what I am determined to do.
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