Cost of living
Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (10:19): We know that many Victorians are concerned about the cost of living and we know that inflation has hit really hard, so I just want to remark on some welcome data we have received recently from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Yesterday data showed that real wages in Australia have grown for four consecutive quarters, making a 3.5 per cent rise in wages in the last year. It is the strongest rate of real wage growth in this nation in four years. Recently we saw inflation moderating to 2.8 per cent, down from 7.3 per cent at the same point in 2022. It is clear that global pressures are easing, the economic impacts of the pandemic are diminishing and cost-of-living relief provided by governments is helping. The job is not done, but we are on the right track.