Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers has today insisted Labor's policies will help reduce cost-of-living pressures but says the test will be if it can tackle falling wages.
Nine Network Political Editor Chris Uhlmann quizzed Mr Chalmers over Labor's policies to relieve soaring prices ahead of the party's campaign launch today.
He was asked whether wages under a Labor government could keep pace with inflation - currently at 5.1 per cent.
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"We are promising that wages will grow faster under Labor because we have a plan to get real wages growing again. First of all, train people for higher wage opportunities, secondly reform child care so people can earn more, work more and earn more if they'd like to."
Uhlmann put it to Mr Chalmers that if wages had not grown faster than inflation after "three years of a Labor government it would be a failure.
"The test is if we can make a real difference in wages growth, we have a plan to do it the government has washed its hand of the cost of living," Mr Chalmers said.
He also said Labor's plan to make housing more affordable by the government taking a major stake in private homes would help people get on the property ladder.
"It picks up the best ideas around the states and the world to make it easier for people to get a toe hold in the housing market. That's because deposits will be smaller. Mortgages will be smaller and repayments will be smaller."
Mr Chalmers admitted the plan would only help about 350,000 people hoping to buy a home but it would be a "good start" to solving the crisis.
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"We have to be responsible. We will be inheriting almost $1 trillion in debt with nothing to show for us it. So we have to make a meaningful difference."
But Mr Chalmers said a Labor government would not make changes to negative gearing in property - where the cost of owning a rental property outweighs the income it generates each year creating a taxable loss.
"We've made it really clear we are not going down that path. We found a better way to deal with some of these issues," he said.
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