Federal election 2025: Labor’s minimum wage pledge | Australian Markets
Labor’s election pledge to raise minimum pay charges for 3 million employees hit an early bump on Wednesday when the Reserve Bank governor appeared to contradict authorities claims that wages can rise with out productiveness features.
The get together’s submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review, calling for an “economically sustainable real wage increase” for hundreds of thousands of decrease paid service employees is the latest price of dwelling pitch in a marketing campaign centred on the financial system.
“This campaign, we will again be advocating for workers to get a pay rise to not only help them deal with the pressures of today but to get ahead in the future,” mentioned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, spruiking a coverage aimed toward cleaners, retail employees and early childhood educators.
Labor’s submission to elevate the minimum hourly fee of $24.10, is the primary time in 4 years that the Government has requested for a actual increase to the minimum wage and it doesn’t specify a determine.
It argues the raise ought to be in line with inflation returning to the Reserve Bank’s goal band of 2-3 per cent “while providing further relief to lower income workers who continue to face cost of living pressures”.
But on the eve of the announcement, RBA Governor Michele Bullock, warned the financial system within the medium time period couldn’t assist wage will increase with no productiveness growth. Productivity has not grown since 2016.
“If productivity didn’t pick up, then that means that the rate of nominal wages growth that can be sustained and be in line with the inflation target is lower,” she mentioned.
Her feedback countered an assertion by Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt on the Australian Financial Review Workforce Summit that Labor believed larger productiveness growth wouldn’t come on the price of decrease wages for employees.
“I don’t think it’s correct to say you can’t have real wage growth without stronger productivity growth,” he mentioned. “What I can say is that we do want to lift productivity alongside profits.”
At a Wednesday morning press convention in Melbourne, the Prime Minister defended his Government’s financial strategy and Mr Watt’s place.
“What we do is — we have had real wage growth. He’s talking a fact,” he mentioned.
“Real wage growth has gone up and it’s gone up in a way where inflation has gone down,” Mr Albanese mentioned, including that his authorities had constantly advocated for more productiveness.
“Productivity is important. It’s one of the three Ps of growth,” he mentioned, arguing that Labor additionally stood for “people who are vulnerable in our community, including those people who are doing it tough because they’re on minimum or award wages”.
But in a signal that a wages battle may turn out to be the following main election stoush, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused the Prime Minister of making an attempt to politicise an unbiased determination by the Fair Work Commission.
“We all support an increase in wages. We support the decision of the Fair Work Commission. And that’s exactly as the economy should work. So the Prime Minister’s here trying to find political opportunities. I’m more interested in helping families,” he mentioned.
Mr Dutton lashed out on the Government’s claims the financial system has “turned a corner” whereas households had been nonetheless struggling and the Budget was heading in direction of more than a trillion greenback debt.
“Real wages have gone down under this government, that’s the reality and people know it,” he mentioned.
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