Doorstop - Parliament House, Canberra

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Today's monthly Labour force figures are incredibly encouraging for the Australian economy and demonstrates the resilience of our labour market. The unemployment figure released today shows that it remains steady at 4.1 per cent, historically low for the Australian context. In addition, the figures released today show that 89,000 jobs were created from March to April. This well exceeds market expectations of these jobs. 59,000 of these jobs were full time jobs. The news today is very good, also for women's participation, with 65,000 jobs in the last month, or in the month from March to April, being created for women, this is historically record high levels of women's workforce participation. Of course, these figures come in the context of an also increasing workforce participation. The overall participation rate was 67.1 per cent, and that was an increase on the last month, which shows that there are more people in work or looking for work. This is very good news. The number of jobs created since we came to government is over 1.1 million jobs. Of course, this is also complemented by the data released yesterday showing that there is real wages growth in the last quarter, but also in the last 18 consecutive months we have seen real wages increases. This is good news for the Australian economy, but it is good news for Australian workers as well, meaning that they have got more money in their pocket. These figures today really do demonstrate the resilience of our labour market, and of course, we will continue working as a government to deliver for the Australian people, making sure our focus is on jobs and making sure people are earning more and keeping more of what they pay. 

JOURNALIST: The Fair Work Commission, annual wage review is coming up. Give us a sneak peek of what you're going to suggest for the minimum wage increase?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: We will be putting in a submission to the annual minimum wage case which clearly states the position we took to the election, which we believe that our lowest paid workers deserve an economically responsible real wage increase. This is something that we were very clear in the election. We know that there are many low paid workers still struggling with the cost of living, and so we will be putting forward to the Fair Work Commission an economically sustainable real wage increase consistent with what we said during the election.

JOURNALIST: What do you mean by economically sustainable, does that mean that it won't be above the inflation rate plus productivity?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: The setting of the minimum wage is a matter for the Fair Work Commission, but our submission will clearly outline that, as we have previously, that workers should not go backwards. We do need to consider the economic conditions, but we also believe that in those economic conditions, workers deserve a real wage increase.

JOURNALIST: After the very big election win that you had. Will you take that as a, I guess, a mandate to double down and further increase IR, your laws and IR giving more power to unions.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: I would say that our changes to industrial relations are delivering for workers, whether it's same job, same pay, whether that is making sure that that there is the ability for better bargaining, bringing both workers and workplaces to the table to negotiate is delivering better wages in this Country. Of course, our first priority as a government is delivering on our election commitments, and that one of those election commitments was making a submission to the minimum wage case to fair work. We will then focus on our other commitments, including legislating the protection of penalty rates, which is critical to ensuring that our safety net is there when it comes to wages and conditions. So that is our priority on delivering on the elections and that is my commitment.

JOURNALIST: The Treasurer has said that productivity growth will be a big focus of this term. Does that include looking at ways to streamline the industrial relations framework?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Of course, productivity is key, and part of that productivity is how do workers and employers bargain together. The changes that we made through our industrial relations laws have really put enterprise bargaining back at the forefront, where workers and employers can come together and bargain. Of course, as we go forward there is a whole of government agenda when it comes to productivity. I know the treasurer is very much focused, and I look forward to working with him on that.

JOURNALIST: Minister, the unemployment figures are stronger than the market expected. Is there an upside risk to inflation here? And do you think we'll see a rate cut next week? Is there a chance the RBA says these numbers are too strong and they don't?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: I don't like to pre-empt the Reserve Bank, and I won't pre-empt the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision on rates, but I would note that we are seeing these very promising numbers, both in our unemployment rate and at our wages growth. At the same time as we are seeing inflation fall substantially which is very promising. It is a very important set of numbers, and I think this shows, really does show the resilience of the Australian economy, but also the labour market.

JOURNALIST: Now we are seeing that wages growth, maybe conditions improving. Do you think the government, over the next year, might pull back on some of the cost-of-living relief we've seen going into the next budget?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: I'll be clear about our cost-of-living support that we promised in the election. We're absolutely committed to delivering, and whether that is the energy bill relief, whether that is cheaper medicine or making it cheaper to go and see a doctor, our focus is absolutely on supporting people with cost of living. We know people are still doing it tough, but these numbers today show that we are seeing more jobs being added to the economy. And equally, the data from yesterday is showing that real wages are growing.

JOURNALIST: On the new portfolio. What mark would you like to leave as Employment Minister? Obviously, we saw a lot of reform under the last two ministers. What areas will you likely be to tackle?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: I'm just getting my initial briefings now, but my focus is on delivering on our election commitments. In addition to the two election commitments I've already mentioned, removing non-compete clauses has been a real commitment that our government has given that is holding back people being able to move to another job and that is not fair for so many people. So, there's a lot of work to be done. In my previous role as Minister for Social Services, I had a real passion to ensuring that more people that have been excluded from the labour market could be included in the labour market, and that will continue to be a focus of mine more broadly, but ultimately, my first order of business is getting on and delivering our election commitments.

JOURNALIST: During the campaign, we saw the Fair Work Commission make an interim ruling for childcare workers and other service workers hefty pay rises. What are your thoughts on whether the government should pay that or whether parents will that be a big challenge for you moving forward?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: I would say that reducing the gender pay gap has been a critical focus of our government and seeing the numbers today of women's participation at record highs for me, shows that the work our government has been doing is paying dividends. When it comes to the Fair Work process, we support the Fair Work process. In fact, we put gender equity as an objective in the Fair Work Act. Thank you.