Labor to lobby Fair Work Commission for minimum wage increase

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Labor will lobby the minimum-wage-setting authority to give low-paid workers a pay rise above inflation, as it seeks to make workplace relations a feature of the election campaign.

Transcript

00:00Wages was a central theme of Labor's campaign three years ago, and it's keen to reignite

00:07that issue again.

00:08Today, the Labor Party will make a submission to the Fair Work Commission calling for an

00:13economically sustainable real wage increase for 2.9 million people on minimum or award

00:19wages.

00:20It says that would allow those workers to keep up with the cost of living.

00:24Three years ago, during the last federal election, Anthony Albanese was asked if he'd support

00:28an increase to the minimum wage of 5.1 per cent, just ahead of inflation at the time,

00:33and he responded, absolutely.

00:35That became a big part of Labor's campaign and sparked a political fight with the Coalition

00:40and with some industry groups too.

00:42Labor would be keen to reignite that conflict this time around.

00:46Look, I think it's very clear that when we've had pressures on households, that minimum

00:51wage earners, those earning the lowest, feel that the most.

00:56And when we're seeing wages move, we're seeing inflation come down, we're seeing relatively

01:01low unemployment, much lower than we see in comparable countries, that minimum wage earners

01:07should be considered against that backdrop.

01:10And the Fair Work Commission will do that, but what minimum wage earners need to know

01:14is the government's on their side and wants them to get a decent pay rise, and that's

01:18of course in stark contrast to what our political opponents would argue and have argued when

01:24they've been in government.

01:26Anthony Albanese is starting today in Melbourne, where many argue could be the central contest

01:31of this campaign.

01:32There are a number of seats, particularly in the cities east, that are held on fairly

01:36tight margins by both Labor and the Liberal Party.

01:39It could be where the Prime Minister is headed this morning.

01:42This won't be the last campaign visit to Victoria for either the Coalition or Labor, you'd have

01:47to think.

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