Jim Chalmers says average full-time workers are $3,700 better off per year under Labor. Is that correct?abc.net.au - Page Online : 20 October 2023Roy Morgan SummaryTreasurer Jim Chalmers claimed in Parliament on 11 September that the average full-time worker was $3,700 better off in the first year of the Albanese government, but his claim is misleading. It has been pointed out his claim does not take inflation into account, which outstripped the growth in earnings by six percentage points over the year to 30 June as measured by the consumer price index (CPI). In fact, average full-time wages fell in real terms by $2,012.92 over Labor's first year in office. If average earnings are adjusted to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' selected living cost indexes (SCLIs) which are designed to measure inflation in a more targeted way, the purchasing power of total wages went backwards by $5,470.40 a year
