Peter Dutton says he supports higher wages for 2.9 million low-paid workers but has stopped short of backing a pay bump higher than inflation, as Labor asks the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum wage. Source: The Guardian.
Switching his election campaign focus from health to wages, Mr Albanese yesterday called for an above-inflation pay rise for workers on the minimum wage and award.
Labor’s submission to the Fair Work Commission’s latest annual wages review said the increase should be “economically sustainable”, noting inflation was returning “sustainably” to the Reserve Bank’s target band.
As with previous years, Labor’s latest submission did not nominate a percentage figure for the increase.
The Albanese Government’s submissions to previous reviews called for wages to keep up with inflation, meaning workers’ pay wouldn’t go backwards amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The commission last year announced a 3.75 per cent increase to the award and the minimum wage, taking it to $24.10 per hour or $915.90 per week.
That increase was roughly in line with the inflation rate at the time. Inflation has since fallen to 2.4 per cent.
“We know that they (low-paid workers) are doing it tough, and that’s why we want to support a real pay increase for those workers in our country,” Mr Albanese told a press conference at a childcare centre in the Liberal-held seat of Deakin in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
The Prime Minister was confident small businesses could handle the extra cost, arguing low-paid workers would reinvest the money into the economy rather than save it.
Asked for the Coalition’s position on the commission’s annual wage review, Mr Dutton said he supported a pay rise but stopped short of matching Labor’s call for one higher than inflation.
“We support wage increases – of course we do,” Mr Dutton told a press conference in the seat of McEwen in Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs.
“Families have gone backwards under this government. There have been seven consecutive quarters where families have been in recession. That’s been the legacy of the Albanese Government.”
FULL STORY
Dutton stops short of backing wage rise above inflation for lowest paid workers (By Dan Jervis-Bardy, The Guardian)
