Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:05): The first thing I would say is that the only thing that is floundering is Labor's socialist policy agenda. That is the only thing that is floundering. Senator Wong: Mr President— The PRESIDENT: Senator Wong, can I anticipate your point of order on direct relevance? The minister is allowed to finish a sentence and include a comment in a sentence. We are seven seconds into the answer. I'll let the minister continue. Senator CORMANN: As Senator Payne and I pointed out yesterday, real wages growth is running above inflation—2.3 per cent of wages growth in the context of 1.6 per cent inflation. It is the strongest wages growth since 2013-14. The PRESIDENT: A point of order, Senator Wong? Senator Wong: The point of order is on direct relevance. The minister, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, can choose to back his minister or not. She said 'very subdued'; does he agree? The PRESIDENT: That is the specific wording of the question, Senator Wong. The minister talking about the subject matter of the question, that being wage growth, does qualify in my definition of being directly relevant to the question. Senator CORMANN: I again remind the Senate and the Australian people that Labor, after six years of bad government, left behind rising unemployment. We've turned that situation around. We've increased employment growth, with 1.4 million new jobs. The unemployment rate is down to 5.2 per cent, which is an important ingredient in stronger wages growth in the future. Indeed, wages growth in 2018-19, at 2.3 per cent, is the strongest it has been. Let me say, we're doing even better. We are delivering income tax cuts to the Australian people. Income tax relief and increases— Senator Watt: They're not wages. Senator CORMANN: He says they're not wages. What matters to the Australian people is what ends up in their pockets. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Watt, a final supplementary question?