Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management) (14:52): I'm very pleased to be able to advise the chamber that, under the Albanese government, wages are increasing at a level we have not seen for a very long time—over a decade, in fact. Over the whole decade that the Morrison government was in power, it did not reach the level of wage growth that is occurring in our country. We know that inflation is continuing to have an effect on Australians' cost of living, and that's exactly why we've taken the steps that we have to address the cost of living, such as the ones that Senator Gallagher was talking about: cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE places and, most importantly, the energy price relief that the Albanese government delivered late last year, which was opposed by every single member opposite. That's what the Albanese government is doing on the cost of living. But we recognise that this job is not done, and we recognise that Australians are doing it tough at the moment. That's why we will continue to take action on cost of living, and that's why we'll continue to take action on wage growth as well. Let's not forget that, unlike the coalition government, this government made a submission to the Fair Work Commission supporting a pay rise for aged-care workers. Unlike the former government, this government made a submission supporting a decent increase to the minimum wage, and, of course, late last year, this government, against the opposition of the coalition, passed legislation which was designed to get wages moving again by giving— Senator Birmingham: President, I raise a point of order on the standing order related to the direct relevance of an answer. I raise this point of order particularly about the direct relevance. This chamber, early in my career, made a change to standing orders that went from requiring relevancy to requiring direct relevancy. This question could not have been a more narrowly or precisely worded question. It was 11 words long, and it asked the minister, very clearly, whether the current rate of real wages growth was positive or negative. I accept that he has been broadly relevant to the question, but I contest he is not being directly relevant to the question, and I invite you to draw him to be directly relevant to the question. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Birmingham. I will draw the minister to the question. Senator WATT: I think it's an established fact that wages growth is not keeping up with inflation at the moment. That is not news. That is in every newspaper that you care to read. But that is not something that this government wants to see go on, and, as I say, nominal wages are growing at a higher rate than we ever saw under the coalition government. That's because, unlike the coalition, we didn't have low wages as a deliberate design feature of our economic strategy. The PRESIDENT: Senator Birmingham, first supplementary?