Burke said the government has not limited its recommendation to just the minimum wage, instead using the term “underpaid” Australians, which the commission defines as two-thirds of the average adult full-time hourly earner.
“We mentioned low-wage workers. who are these people? They are largely the heroes of the pandemic. They are the people who gave beautiful speeches about both sides of politics after the pandemic, but only one side of politics, the Labor government was now ready to fight,” he said.
“So we’re talking about people who are close to the minimum wage. You’ll find that for example [with] With shop assistants, cleaners, lots of people in the caring economy. So the low paid employee is the context that is there.
“The government does not want anyone to go backwards, but this is the most dire situation for the low wage earners. They are the people most affected by the crisis of cost of living; They are also the people with the least potential who have the ability to depreciate any assets or savings.”
Professor Roger Wilkins from Melbourne University’s Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research said this equates to about 1.3 million Australians.
Dr. Angela Jackson, principal economist at Impact Economics, gave a slightly higher estimate of about 1.5 million people, saying that two-thirds of the media earn about $24 an hour.
Burke used the preposition to differentiate labor from the previous government, saying “the government policy of low wages as a deliberate design feature ended today”.
The submission also mentioned that the submissions submitted this year by the then coalition government had a title – importance of low paying work – “Does not reflect the priorities of this government”.
Andrew McKellar, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said an affordable wage hike risks inflicting further pain on small businesses, “and the millions of jobs they retain and create.”
“Implementing affordable wage hikes on small businesses will put jobs at risk, not create them,” he said.
The government referenced its bid to close the gender pay gap by saying that low-wage workers were “more likely to be female, on a casual basis and under the age of 30.”
ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said it was “a big change for a government that acknowledges there is a problem with wage increases in this country and is willing to do something about it.”
“Worker’s share in national income is currently at record low while productivity is strong and profits are at record high. We urgently need wage hike for working people and this is a good first step.”
