One industry leader said Labor was “crab-walking” away from the 5.1 per cent figure on Wednesday after heeding the concerns from employers.
When journalists asked Albanese on Wednesday if he would put the figure in a formal case to the commission,he said,“Well,if I was doing that,then that would be an announcement” and declined to offer a “yes” or “no” answer.
Morrison called Albanese “incredibly reckless” but was challenged on whether the government wanted salaries to fall in real terms.
“We all want to see wages go up but the way you engage in economic policy is not in the loose way we saw from Anthony Albanese yesterday,” Morrison said.
“Anthony Albanese is a loose unit on the economy.”
In a sign of the challenge for the government on whether it wanted wages to rise,Morrison denied a report inThe Australian that said he called it “vandalism” for the Labor leader to back the 5.1 per cent increase.
Asked whether the government would make a submission to the commission to suggest any increase in the minimum wage,Morrison said:“No,as you know,that’s never been our government’s policy.”
While the government has lodged a submission on economic conditions,it has not recommended a higher minimum wage and is being attacked by Labor for presiding over wages that are falling behind the cost of living.
Chalmers said it was “not too much to ask” to have $1 added to the $20.33 hourly rate for the minimum wage.
“If the prime minister wants to say an extra $1 an hour for Australia’s low paid workers will break the economy,then the economy is not in the condition he pretends it to be,” he said.
Withinflation running at 5.1 per cent,the commission is considering submissions including acall from the ACTU for a 5.5 per cent increase and a call from the Australian Industry Group for 2.5 per cent.
One long-time participant in the process said the commission often decided on a figure between the business and union demands,suggesting an outcome of about 4 per cent in this round,but that no federal government had proposed a specific figure in more than a decade.
In 2006,for instance,the Howard government proposed an increase of $11 per week and the industrial umpire decided on $17 per week.
The Fair Work Commission is expected to issue its decision in early June so it can take effect from July 1 for about 2.6 million Australians who are paid the minimum wage or whose incomes are linked to the figure by an industry award.
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A decision by an incoming Labor government to lodge a formal submission at a late stage of the process would be extraordinary,one observer said,because it would have to be tested at a hearing and there would be little time between the May 21 election and the July 1 change in the rate.
Australian Retailers Association chief Paul Zahra,whose members include Coles and Woolworths,called for the wage increase to be linked to the underlying rate of inflation,which was 3.7 per cent for the March quarter,but to adjust for superannuation with a final figure of 3.2 per cent.
“The Australian Retailers Association supports a fair,equitable and sustainable increase in the minimum wage,to help retail workers keep pace with the rising costs of living,” Zahra said in a submission on Tuesday.
“Any increase in wages that exceeds this baseline would be unsustainable,particularly for those retailers with limited financial reserves after two years of continuous disruption due to COVID-19,supply chain issues and natural disasters.”
The retail lobby’s position exceeds the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,which has called for a 3 per cent rise.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has lifted its claim from 5 per cent to 5.5 per cent in light of rising living costs.
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