Senator CASH (Western Australia—Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) (14:27): I thank Senator Ciccone for the question and I reject the premise of the question. But what this government does understand and, in particular, what Senator Cormann, as the outstanding Minister for Finance who, along the with Treasurer and now Prime Minister, will deliver a surplus budget, which is something those on the other side have not seen for many, many decades—the one thing Senator Cormann understands is that the way that you do lift wages in Australia— Senator Cormann: is to have business be more successful. Senator CASH: correct. As he said, it is to have business be more successful. As our colleagues know on this side, when businesses are more successful, they create more jobs for Australians. When there are more jobs— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Watt on a point of order? Senator Watt: I'm sorry but again on relevance. The question was very clear: does it remain the government's policy to see wages stagnate and household incomes go backwards in real terms? That's the question. The PRESIDENT: Senator Watt, it's a very broadly worded question. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! This is time for the opposition. If it stops interjecting, I'll make a ruling. Senator Watt, it was a very broadly worded question. I consider the minister to be directly relevant if the minister is talking about wages policy, and I believe she was at that point. I'm listening very carefully. Senator CASH: As I was saying, what Senator Cormann does understand is that governments need to put in place the right economic framework so that businesses can prosper, grow and create more jobs for Australians, which is exactly what this government is doing. Since we were elected to office, the economy under us has created almost 1.4 million jobs. We now have record employment in Australia. We also have the participation rate in Australia at a record high for the second month going. What we will never do to the Australian people is take more money out of their pockets, because that is exactly what the Labor Party were going to do. They talk about slow wages growth— The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Cash. Senator Watt on a point of order. Senator Watt: Are we going to get one answer today about wages? We haven't had it here. We haven't had it from Senator Ruston. The PRESIDENT: I take it you're raising a point of order on direct relevance. Again, I ask senators to draw a point when they make a point of order. Senator Cash, you've been reminded of the question. You have 28 seconds remaining to answer. Senator CASH: I rejected the premise of the question outright and I said that what Senator Cormann does understand—what all of us on this side understand—is that the way you increase wages in this country is by having a strong economy. One of the benefits of a strong economy is the creation of more jobs. When the economy creates more jobs, there's less unemployment, and guess what? There's competition for the jobs that are actually out there, which ultimately puts pressure on wages. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Ciccone, a supplementary question.