Australian news and politics live: Treasurer Jim Chalmers takes credit for wages growth despite RBA concerns

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has claimed credit for the rise in wages despite the fact that it may be at odds with the Reserve Bank’s economic outlook.

Dr Chalmers and Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said in a statement that annual real wages had “grown for 18 months in a row under the Albanese Labor Government”.

“Under Labor, more Australians are working, earning more and keeping more of what they earn,” the statement said.

“We’re really pleased with today’s figures which show annual real wages have now grown for six quarters in a row, after going badly backwards under the previous Liberal government and falling for the five quarters in the lead up to the 2022 election.

“Australians voted for higher wages at the election, and that’s what today’s numbers show.

“The wage price index grew 0.9 per cent in the March quarter 2025, to be 3.4 per cent higher through the year.”

The statement said that wage growth was “one of the ways” the Government was preparing Australia for “more uncertainty and instability in the global economy”.

“We know that productivity growth is the key for strong and sustainable wages growth in the long term and that’s why our five-pillar productivity agenda across technology, human capital, energy, care and competition is so important,” they said.

RBA Governor Michele Bullock has previously said sustained wages growth cannot be maintained during periods of falling productivity.

The Reserve Bank board meets next week to determine whether to cut interest rates for Aussie homeowners.

Ms Ferguson left the audience with these final thoughts.

“To have played a personally small role in mobilising progressive action across generations is the greatest honour of my life,” she said.

“While 10-year-old me wanted to be the Prime Minister, the 26-year-old that stands here today recognises that forging an entirely different path, and cultivating the passion of Australian women to be activated, informed and confident, will reshape the future of the political arena in this country, and this is just the beginning.”

Ferguson says, “Peter Dutton’s refusal to engage with new media platforms, particularly those run by women, was one small, yet huge, decision in a series of reckless refusals to attempt to communicate with the voter base that would eventually end his political career.”

“Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese’s campaign ran a clear strategy that humanised him with a voter base that largely felt ignored.”

“Whether you agree with the politics or not, he worked harder to earn each vote.”

“He told women that he was interested at least speaking to us.”

Ms Ferguson, who runs a political social media page, said her work in political media stemmed from her desire to offer something different to a younger audience.

“I am not a journalist, and I have never claimed to be. I never will,” she said.

“Research tells us that more than half of Australians get their news on social media, but I don’t ever want to be seen as a source of breaking headlines.”

“My intention is to provide opinions, distribute ideas and ask people to look at their own moral compass in relation to mine.”

“I don’t seek agreement. I want to develop media literacy and encourage people to expand their news diet.”

Ms Ferguson shared, “I grew up in a middle-class household and was the first to attend university.”

“I spent my childhood in Western Sydney, and there regional Orange. To say that my world view was conservative is an understatement.”

“When I was accepted to study law, it was not because I had the required 99 ATAR, but because the University of Queensland saw a context that included apprehended violence.”

Ferguson continued, “I wanted to enact change on a personal level and for the broader community that I lived in. The experience that I had, I hope, resonates with so many as a common vision for Australian progress.”

Ms Ferguson said, “It’s incredibly meaningful as a member of Generation Z to see the media willing to see a new voice.”

“At the age of 10, I decided naively that I wanted to be the Prime Minister of this country.

“I chose this career on my first trip to Canberra on a school excursion in grade 4.

“Shockingly, in the House of Representatives, seeing politicians hurl insults at each other is not what made me want to get the top job.

“During the tour, the system of preferential voting was explained to me.

“The concept that every person had a vote and an equal voice within that vote was impactful.”

Hannah Ferguson, a prominent Gen Z online personality, co-founder and chief executive of Cheek Media Co is speaking at the National Press Club.

Cheek Media Co. is an independent Australian news commentary platform that discusses topics sitting at the intersection of feminist, social and political issues.

“I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land we are on, the Ngunnawal people, and pay my respects to those past and present,” Ms Ferguson started.

“After the disturbing conversation in the past few weeks, it’s never been more important to recognise the enduring connection that First Nations people have to this country.”

Australian wages lifted 3.4 per cent over the past 12 months, with education, healthcare and social assistance among the best performers so far this year.

That was faster than the pace of inflation, which was 2.4 per cent for the year to March.

But although the figures were an improvement on the previous quarter, there was a sign that wages may not keep growing faster than the cost of living.

March quarter wage growth was 0.9 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. That was in line with inflation for the same three-month period.

​​Read the full story.​​

One of Australia’s biggest financial providers is in court again after allegedly failing to report up to 1.5 billion short sales, putting at risk the nation’s financial stability.

Corporate watchdog ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group’s cash brokering division - failed to correctly report at least 73 million short sales between December 2009 and February 2024.

ASIC estimates the true figure is likely to be between 298 million and 1.5 billion short sales, but the inadequacy of the brokering division’s reporting systems makes it impossible to narrow down beyond such a large range.

Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities that an entity does not currently own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet that the product will decline in value.

The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments that were causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short.

​Read the full story.​

Liberal Senator Jane Hume has criticised former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s “very small” leadership group during the election campaign.

“During the heat of the election campaign, things get pointier and centralised, there’s a small leadership group, there’s a small campaign group, they have to be extremely nimble,” she told Sky News on Wednesday.

“That group was very, very small this time around.

“And I know that, you know, coming out onto the media and reading about some of the policies that we were launching only the day before or the morning of, you know, that can be quite disturbing.

“I think it’s probably the only way you could put it.”