Treasurer Jim Chalmers has already presided over the world’s largest fall in real per capita household disposable incomes:
But don’t worry. Treasurer Chalmers told this week’s Morgan Stanley Australia Summit that Australian “wages are growing at rates not seen for 15 years”:
“Wages are growing at rates not seen for 15 years, real wages are now growing again, and the combination of a resilient labour market, wage growth and tax cuts will support real income growth in the coming year”.
Actually Jim, Australian real wages fell by 0.2% in the March quarter and have fallen a whopping 7.1% from their peak:
The true situation is even worse when you consider that the wage price index doesn’t account for the extra tax lost through bracket creep:
The real wage chart above is also deflated by headline CPI inflation, which was 3.6% in the year to March 2024.
However, headline CPI inflation was roughly half of the 6.5% increase in cost-of-living experienced by working households in the year to March 2024:
Stop lying Jim. Your government has presided over the biggest decline in living standards in modern history.
