Mr STEPHEN SMITH (2:10 PM) —My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his consistent refusal to guarantee that no individual Australian employee will be worse off as a result of his extreme industrial relations changes. I also refer the Prime Minister to his earlier answer where he said that his guarantee is his record. Prime Minister, is it not the case that the government’s and your record on the minimum wage is as follows: if the government’s submissions to the Industrial Relations Commission had been agreed to, over the government’s period in office, those on the minimum wage would currently be $50 a week or $2,600 a year worse off? Is it not the case that the only future for Australian employees is a drop in the minimum wage in real terms?

Mr HOWARD (Prime Minister) —I thank the member for Perth for asking me a question about my record. I am delighted to tell him of my record.

Mr Stephen Smith interjecting—

The SPEAKER —Order! The member for Perth has asked his question.

Mr HOWARD —Let me start by saying, firstly, that the real wages of Australian workers have risen by 16.8—

Mr Beazley —Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. He was asked a question about the fact that he wanted the commission to knock $2,000 off ordinary workers and he now has his chance.

The SPEAKER —The Prime Minister is entirely in order.

Mr HOWARD —Let me start again. The real wages of Australian workers have risen by 16.8 per cent over the last 9½ years. In real terms, the federal minimum wage has risen by more than 12 per cent under the coalition. Australia’s consistent economic growth and tax cuts in recent years have resulted in an increase in the disposable income of the average Australian production worker. They are the people the Labor Party used to be interested in before they abandoned them and embraced the chattering classes. There was a time when the Labor Party could speak with some heart and authenticity about production workers in this country, but they have long since ceased to bother about representing their interests in the Australian community.

Let me remind the House that average household incomes in Australia have grown by no less than 20.7 per cent in real terms over the period 1994 to 2003-04. The real income of low- and middle-income households—let me emphasise this—has increased by a proportionately greater amount: that is, by 22 per cent. In other words, the Labor Party like to chatter and interject on a point like this—let them go ahead and try to silence me from reminding the Parliament of Australia that under this government the people have enjoyed the greatest increase in household disposable income—

Mr Stephen Smith —Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The last thing I want to do is silence you on the minimum wage.

The SPEAKER —That is not a point of order.

Mr HOWARD —It used to be called muscling up but that expression is not very popular now because of the author of it. Since 1996, real net household wealth has risen by an average of 8.8 per cent a year. Australia’s unemployment rate has fallen from 8.2 per cent in March 1996—

Mr Beazley —Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Prime Minister was asked a question explicitly on the government’s stance on the minimum wage. They have opposed virtually—

The SPEAKER —The Prime Minister is in order. I call the Prime Minister.

Mr HOWARD —Australia’s unemployment rate has fallen from 8.2 per cent in March 1996 to 5.3 per cent now. That is about a 30-year low. A total of 1.7 million new jobs have been created under the coalition. Inflation has been contained, averaging just 2.5 per cent per year. Finally, of enormous interest to the people the Labor Party used to try and represent—that is, the home buyers of Australia—household mortgage interest rates are about 7.3 per cent, well below the 17 per cent seen in the early 1990s and the 10.5 per cent in March 1996. On an average new mortgage of about $220,000, the reduction in interest rates since March 1996 saves Australian families about $585 a month in interest charges. I am delighted to be questioned by the opposition on my record.