I am late today because I am writing this in London after travelling the last 24 hours. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the latest labour force data today (February 19, 2026) – Labour Force, Australia – for January 2026 – which showed that the labour market was essentially steady in that employment kept pace with supply, and the participation rate was stable. There was some shuffling within total employment to full-time jobs, with a rather large fall in part-time work. Notwithstanding that fact, underemployment still rose. It remains a fact that with 10 per cent of available labour not being used it is ludicrous to talk about Australia being close to full employment. There is substantial scope for more job creation given the slack that is present.