Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance, Leader of the Government in Senate, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:00): The good news is that wages continue to grow faster than inflation. When Senator Gallagher, in a rather misleading way, seeks to focus on the nominal growth, she ignores the fact that inflation is also comparatively low. What I can confirm is that the wage price index rose by 2.2 per cent through the year to the September quarter; private sector wages grew by 2.2 per cent through the year; the private sector WPI, including bonus payments, grew by 2.8 per cent; and public sector wages grew by 2.5 per cent. What I can also confirm is that real wages grew by 0.6 per cent, higher than the 0.4 per cent through the year when Labor lost government, and 0.6 per cent is higher than when Labor lost government and is indeed in line with the 20-year average. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order on my left! Senator CORMANN: The 20-year average of real wages growth in Australia is 0.6 per cent. But obviously when inflation runs higher that 0.6 per cent, on average over the long-term, leads to a higher nominal growth figure than it would in the context of the current low inflation environment. That is very obvious. The situation is stronger than it was under Labor. I also make the point that average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults rose by 3.1 per cent over the past year, the strongest growth in six years. And, on 30 May 2019, as you might recall, the independent Fair Work Commission announced its decision to increase the national minimum wage rate by three per cent from 1 July 2019. The increase is higher than the economy-wide wage growth and higher than inflation. And— (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Cormann! Senator Gallagher, a supplementary question?