Senator PAYNE (New South Wales—Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women) (14:55): Senator McCarthy, I remind you again of the government's commitments and achievements in relation to employment growth, just for starters. We will continue to build on that proud record by creating a further 1.2 million jobs over the next five years. We will also— The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Payne! Senator Wong is on her feet with a point of order. Senator Wong: One question: why won't the government act to reverse the worst wages growth Australians have seen? I appreciate it's only 16 seconds, but at some point it would be good if a minister in this government could actually address the economic questions we're asking. The PRESIDENT: Senator Cormann on the point of order. Senator Cormann: On the point of order, Senator Payne actually directly answered that question when she pointed out that wages were growing above inflation, supplemented by tax cuts increasing effective wages growth by even more. The PRESIDENT: On the point of order, Senator Cormann is correct. What is also relevant is that, for a question that has a substantial introduction, the minister is entitled to answer any part of that question. Senator Wong repeated the conclusion of the question. I consider Senator Payne to be directly relevant to the question. Senator PAYNE: Thank you very much, Mr President. As I was about to say, it is also important to understand, when we're talking about wages, that we're also talking about putting more money in workers' pockets, and, under the government's plans for lower taxes, workers will keep more of what they earn. In fact, they've already received some, leading to more choices and more opportunities. We've seen millions of taxpayers benefit from the $14 billion that's already flowed back into their pockets thanks to our tax cuts. When that full plan is rolled out—and we saw those opposite fighting tooth and nail against more money in workers' pockets—94 per cent of Australians will pay a marginal tax rate of no more than 30c in the dollar. Wage growth is ahead of inflation, and they refuse to acknowledge that. (Time expired)