Australia's wages have risen to a 15-year high!The finance minister announced the "3 key economic strategies for 2024", promising to provide relief for the cost of living
Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirmed that the federal government is working on a new cost-of-living relief package for the May budget, saying that rising wages are central to the government's plan to mitigate the impact of high inflation, The Age reported on January 8.
The latest data released by Chalmers shows that wage increases are at their highest level in 15 years, and the biggest beneficiaries are the lowest-paid workers in the country.
At a press conference last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had asked the Ministry of Finance and the financial sector to develop a draft cost-of-living policy for Cabinet to consider ahead of this year's budget.
Speaking to reporters last week, Albanese said: "Our priority is to provide cost-of-living relief while reducing inflationary pressures. ”
Chalmers said on Monday that the government has three economic priorities for the year ahead: to slow the impact of inflation without increasing it and provide cost-of-living relief;
Jim Chalmers(图片来源:《时代报》)
Speaking at his first press conference of the year, Chalmers added: "If we can responsibly do more in our budgets to help people cope with cost-of-living pressures, then we will obviously be thinking about this from now on." ”
Mr Chalmers said the economy faces significant challenges, including high interest rates, global conflicts, persistently high inflation and natural disasters such as the floods in Queensland.
Chalmers, who is based in Brisbane's southern suburbs of Rankin, said: "The human consequences of this severe weather are what matter. But our economy and budget will also suffer. ”
"In the coming months, we will have a clearer picture of the economic and budgetary impact of these natural disasters. ”
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Gross wages rose 4% in the year to the third quarter of 2023, the fastest annual increase since 2009, according to Treasury data released by Chalmers.
"We've seen the fastest wage growth in 15 years, and these new data suggest that those with the lowest wages receive the largest percentage of increases. ”
"Wage increases are definitely at the heart of our cost-of-living plan, and these new figures show that we are making commendable and encouraging progress. But we have more work to do throughout 2024. ”
Opposition leader Dutton said Australians did not think the economy was improving.
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"Family life is struggling at the moment. People are struggling to pay their electricity bills, their insurance premiums, to fill up their cars, to pay for the price at checkout, because they know that the price of everything has gone up, in large part because of the government's disastrous energy policies. ”
"I think the Treasurer is either completely out of touch with the local community and the Australian people, or he's trying to deceive them, or maybe both," he said. ”
Angus Taylor, a spokesman for the opposition finance department, said wages were still struggling to keep up with inflation.
"It's the purchasing power of Australian wages that matters and that's going backwards. ”
"We are breaking records in the worst possible way – with record-breaking declines in disposable incomes and record-breaking declines in living standards. Australians have been hit triple hard by rising prices, mortgage repayments and rising taxes. ”