Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management) (14:58): Thank you, Senator Green, who, like so many people on this side of the chamber, spent much of her working life before coming here working for the interests of working people—something that I know is a foreign concept for those opposite. As we know, a key component in addressing the real cost-of-living pressure that many Australians are facing is increasing wages, and, finally, we are moving on from a decade of a government that deliberately held down wages. Last month, the ABS labour force data showed that the number of Australians in work— Senator Cash interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Cash! Senator WATT: has never been higher than it is under the Albanese Labor government. I'm not surprised that Senator Cash is interjecting, because she was one of the ministers for industrial relations that tried to keep wages down. I would be embarrassed about that as well. More than half a million jobs have been created since this government came to office— Sena tor Cash interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Cash, I've called you a number of times. Senator WATT: the most for any new government on record. After a decade of low wages being a deliberate design feature from people like Senator Cash, the Albanese government is ensuring that every single one of those workers is being paid accordingly. Thanks to long-overdue reforms, wages are finally moving again under the Albanese government. Employers are back at the bargaining table, thanks to last year's secure jobs, better pay reforms. However, loopholes still remain within the Fair Work Act that undermine worker pay and conditions—again, loopholes that existed under legislation we inherited from Senator Cash and the opposition. The first loophole is that, if a worker steals from an employer, it is a crime, as it should be; however, if an employer quite deliberately steals from their worker, in most places in Australia it is not a crime. The Albanese government is closing this loophole by criminalising wage theft. The second loophole was the idea of the forced permanent casual worker. We're standing up for casual workers by giving those who are working like they are permanent a chance to convert to permanent employment. We'll see how much the opposition cares about workers and cost of living when it comes to a vote. The PRESIDENT: Minister, the time for answering has expired. Senator Green, a first supplementary?