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Labor will back a pay rise for minimum and award wage earners, the prime minister says.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the party would make a submission to the Fair Work Commission for an “economically sustainable real wage increase”.
He has not put a figure on how much he’d like to see wages grow for Australia’s low-paid workers.
“We have never put figures on our submissions,” Albanese told reporters on Wednesday morning.
“What we put is an indication to the Fair Work Commission … of our view of what is important.”
Albanese also backed a pay rise for low-paid workers during the 2022 election. The national minimum wage has increased by around $7,500 a year since then.
Albanese targeting low-paid workers
Labor estimates that there are around three million Australians who would benefit from an award wage increase, including cleaners, retail workers and childcare workers.
The national minimum wage is currently $24.10 per hour, which equates to $915.90 per 38-hour week or $47,626.80 a year.
Labor has supported wage increases in the last three annual wage reviews.
The Fair Work Commission is an independent body that considers increases to award rates.
Albanese has also brushed off suggestions that small businesses would struggle to pay their staff more.
“If you pay a low-paid worker more money, it doesn’t go to savings, they do spend it, because they’re doing it tough,” Albanese said.
Wage increase will likely be tied to inflation
In considering whether to grant a wage increase, the Fair Work Commission will consider the current inflation rate. Increasing wages too much could also raise inflation.
This could make it harder for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to reduce interest rates.
But with inflation coming down and interest rates falling, Labor believes it has a strong case for the commission to back wage increases.
The latest Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation, was 2.4 per cent, which is within the RBA’s target range of between 2 and 3 per cent.
The RBA made a rate cut at its February meeting that resulted in rates being reduced from 4.35 per cent to 4.1 per cent. It followed 13 consecutive rate rises, starting in May 2022.
However, the central bank kept the rate on hold this past Tuesday, citing global uncertainty as a reason for caution.
Dutton supports wage increases
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said he supports wage increases while criticising Labor’s economic management.
“Families have gone backwards under this government,” he said.
“Real wages have gone down under this government.
“The prime minister is out there telling Australians they have never had it better off, that everything is good, we have turned the corner, but that’s not the experience of families we’re speaking to.”
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