Press conference, Melbourne

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Well, thanks very much for joining me outside the MCG here in Melbourne today. And today we've received more good news for Australians. More evidence that under the Albanese Government wages are rising, jobs are rising, all while bringing down inflation and of course seeing a very welcome interest rate cut for Australians this week. What we've seen with today's jobs and wages figures is that more Australians are getting jobs, and more Australians are getting more money in their pockets through rising wages. Now this is a very deliberate result of deliberate decisions of the Albanese Government to get wages moving again, to get employment growing again, all while bringing down inflation, which of course has led to this week's interest rate cuts that I know all mortgage holders felt as a major relief.
 
Now, we recognise in government that things are still really tough for many Australians. And that's why we'll keep working hard to keep these wages rising, to keep as many Australians as possible in employment, and in fact to offer more jobs to more Australians. And it's also why we will continue working hard to provide the cost of living support that so many Australians need and keep working to bring down inflation. As I say, the results that we've seen today are the result of deliberate decisions by the Albanese Government. And it's very encouraging that these are more signs that we are on track to the soft landing in our economy that we've been working so hard towards over the last couple of years.
 
Just to take you through some of the specific data that has come out today, beginning with jobs. In the month of January this year we saw 44,000 new jobs created in Australia. Most of them were full time jobs. Nearly half a million new jobs have been created in the 12 months alone leading up to January this year. And that's terrific news for Australians because we know that to deal with those cost of living pressures, one of the most important things to Australians is having a job and having a well-paid job so that they can afford those bills. Today we've seen confirmation that since the Albanese Government was elected, 1.15 million new jobs have been created in Australia, and again, most of them have been full time.
 
Now, you might be wondering why we're standing outside the MCG. What that means in practical terms is that since the Albanese Government was elected, over 11 full MCGs of new jobs have been created in Australia, 11 grand finals, 11 sold out Taylor Swift concerts worth of jobs created in Australia, keeping Australians in work, and providing them with the opportunity to support their families through increasing wages.
 
We have seen a very slight increase in the unemployment rate to 4.1 per cent. But unemployment remains at historic lows. Again, something we've been working towards. And when it comes to wages, after yesterday's figures, which showed that we’ve brought up five consecutive quarters of real wage growth in Australia, we now know what that means in dollar terms based on today's figures. And these figures show that since the Albanese Government was elected, the average full time worker in Australia is earning $206 more per week than they were when we came to office. Which, again, constitutes real wage growth, because that figure shows that wages are rising higher than inflation.
 
So, again, we recognise that many Australians are still doing it tough out there. It's not mission accomplished for the Albanese Government. We know that there's more work to do to keep wages rising, to bring prices down further, to support people with cost of living relief. But this is very encouraging news that our economic policies have led to inflation falling, interest rates starting to come down, all while lifting jobs and lifting wages as well.
 
I might just deal with one issue that I know always comes up when we get these new jobs figures which is the intersection between jobs, wages, inflation and interest rates. And I know there are commentators out there who've been saying we can't see interest rate cuts if wages are rising, or we can't see inflation falling if jobs are rising. Well, what these figures show is that we have been able to deliver a sustained fall in inflation over many months now. We've seen interest rates being cut only this week, all at a time when jobs are increasing, and wages are increasing. Now, I know that's a bit unusual, and it goes against what the economic textbooks tell us will happen. But this is really encouraging data for Australian people. And more importantly, it means that in terms of how people are living and their ability to pay their bills, things get just that much easier. There's more to be done. But this is very encouraging news.
 
Finally, I might just make the point, and I've already mentioned that these results are stemming from deliberate decisions from the Albanese Government, including in particular our approach to workplace relations laws. We've changed the laws in a way that has led to wages growing and lifting job numbers, all while bringing down inflation. Now, what we see on offer from Peter Dutton and the Coalition as we head into the next election is completely the opposite. What they want is a return to the 10 years of low wage growth that we saw under the Coalition last time they were in office. They have already promised to tear up a range of the changes that we've made to workplace laws that are delivering higher wages and that are delivering more jobs for Australians. And all that will mean is that you will be worse off under Peter Dutton and the Coalition if they win the next election. Pay will be going backwards, jobs will be going backwards, inflation will be back up again, just like it was last time they were in office. And we’ll be pointing that out very strongly to the Australian people that if you want your standard of living to rise, the best way to do that is to vote for the Albanese Labor Government. If you want your pay to fall, be my guest, go and vote for Peter Dutton.
 
Happy to take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: How much of the job creation is public sector roles?
 
MURRAY WATT: Thank you for raising. That was the one thing I meant to mention that I forgot to cover. Interestingly, and again, this goes against a lot of the commentary that you see, nearly four out of five of the new jobs that have been created in this term of office have actually been in the private sector. And again, I know that goes against a lot of the commentary.
 
We make no apologies for investing in new jobs in the care sector. We saw before coming to office that our aged care system was in complete disarray. The Royal Commission report headed and titled “Neglect”. So, we have invested in creating jobs in the aged care system and by making sure that the workers there get a decent pay rise. We have invested in growing the workforce in our early childhood and care sector, and also our disability sector. They are really important jobs that deliver good wages for the workers in those industries but also deliver really important care to millions of Australians. So, we make no apologies for creating new jobs in the care sector, but also what we're seeing is a huge growth in jobs in the private sector and that's good news for the economy overall.
 
JOURNALIST: Are you expecting unemployment to rise from here and if so, by how much?
 
MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well, you would have seen some of the RBA and Treasury forecasts around unemployment and I think it is reasonable to expect that in the months ahead with these sort of uncertain certain global conditions that we're going through at the moment, it's possible that we may see a further slight increase in unemployment, but we're not looking in the future at having a massive increase in unemployment.
 
And again, this is one of the really big contrasts between what we're seeing in the Australian economy under Labor and what we're seeing in other countries that we like to compare ourselves to. It's often pointed out that other countries have seen interest rates come down earlier than what we've seen in Australia, but that has happened at the expense of their economy and their unemployment rates. We've seen much higher unemployment in other countries which have seen interest rates fall. We've seen New Zealand go into recession, and that's one of the reasons they're dropping their interest rates. What we've been able to do here in Australia is keep the economy growing, albeit, you know, not that strongly, but still growing, creating new jobs, bringing inflation down, bringing interest rates down as well. And that's the way we want to see things in the future.
 
JOURNALIST: I know you did already address it, but the RBA has indicated it does want unemployment to continue to rise before cutting interest rates further. I guess, do you support that?
 
MURRAY WATT: Obviously what we've been working towards is a situation where interest rates are able to be reduced through massive reductions in inflation, while also lifting wages and lifting employment. I mean, the best case scenario is that we have as many people in Australia in a job as possible, earning more and keeping more of what they earn while we see inflation fall. And that would no doubt be something the RBA takes into account in its future decisions on interest rates cuts.
 
I did notice that very recently Michele Bullock, the Governor of the RBA, has noted that it is a good thing that we've seen more people in employment in Australia. That leads to good social outcomes as well as good economic outcomes. So, I think what I'm saying is that many of the economic commentators are having to rethink what we've always seen and what we've thought about unemployment, wages and inflation in the past.
 
JOURNALIST: Just another matter. Are you confident that all jobs at the Whyalla Steelworks are safe following this rescue package from the government?
 
MURRAY WATT: Yeah. You will have seen the Prime Minister and other colleagues have done media today in Whyalla around this, so I might not go into that in a huge amount of detail. You can refer to that. But, you know, clearly, we are being motivated in our actions by first of all, making sure that we maintain a strong steel making industry in Australia for a very long time to come and also maximising the number of jobs in that industry going forward as well. It's a really important employer in many parts of regional Australia and we want to see it stay that way.
 
JOURNALIST: The Victorian Government has announced it’s set to slash thousands of public sector roles. With unemployment being up, do you think now's the right time for them to be making this move?
 
MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, I'm obviously not going to comment on a decision of a State Government about how they manage their budget, but as a Federal Government, we'll continue doing everything we can to maximise the number of people in a job, work with the business community to create more jobs, while continuing to bring inflation down.
 
JOURNALIST: I suppose that these are still jobs and, you know, unemployment again is going up. So, I guess, overall, do you think that it’s the right move?
 
MURRAY WATT: Again, I'm not going to sort of comment on the decisions of Victorian Government, but we'll always be working towards maximising the number of jobs in Australia.