The never-ending lies of Treasurer Jim Chalmers

On Thursday, I lambasted Treasurer Jim Chalmers for boasting that Labor has delivered the “longest period of consecutive real wage growth in almost a decade” following eight consecutive quarters of annual real wage growth:

Chalmers’ boast came despite real wages falling by 0.5% in Q3 2025, tracking at mid-2011 levels. Australian real wages have only recovered by 1.1% since bottoming in the March quarter of 2023.

To add insult to injury, the strongest recent wage growth has come from the public sector, while private sector wage growth has collapsed.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.