Australian Party Leaders Heat Up the Debate on the Minimum Wage

Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese (L) and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attend the first leaders' debate of the 2022 federal election campaign in Brisbane, Australia, on April 20, 2022. Jason Edwards - Pool/Getty Images

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese have exchanged words over wage rises ahead of the final federal election debate on the night of May 11.

While visiting the electorate of North Sydney, Albanese said Labor supported a 5.1 percent increase in the minimum wage to keep up with inflation.

“I’m the Labor leader, but I’m amazed that this is not a bipartisan issue,” he told reporters.

“This is a government that ... did a budget just a short while ago, whereby they made changes to petrol. They gave a $250 handout, saying there is a cost of living crisis.

“Well, there is a cost of living crisis, and people are doing it tough, and that is why there needs to be action (on wages).”

Albanese said his remarks resonated with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s statement that a lack of wage growth was slowing down the economy.

Meanwhile, the prime minister said he would not state a specific number for wage rises as it was a matter for the Fair Work Commission.

He further said it was an ill-thought-out policy to tie a wage increase to the current 5.1 percent inflation rate and called the opposition leader a “loose unit” on the economy.

“It’s like throwing fuel on the fire of rising interest rates and rising cost of living,” Morrison said.

“If you want your interest rates to be skyrocketing, as a result of what Anthony Albanese is suggesting, ... he’s your guy.

“He thinks he can run around at this election saying he can increase people’s wages and, at the same time, see cost of living pressures fall. It just doesn’t work like that.”

Morrison then emphasised the importance of carefully considering wages policy and said it would be best to leave the matter to the independent workplace tribunal.

Australian opposition leader Anthony Albanese (L) and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (R) debate on live television in Sydney, Australia, on May 8, 2022. James Brickwood - Pool/Getty Images

As of July 2021, the Australian national minimum wage is $20.33 (US$14.14) per hour. A 5.1 percent increase will drive up the current rate by $1.03 per hour or $42 a week.

In response to the prime minister’s criticism, Albanese refuted the argument that raising wages in line with inflation would cause interest rates to hike. He then said Morrison was being “loose with the truth”.

“This is a guy who never looks to bring people together, who never looks for unity, is always just looking for wedges and always looking for division,” he said of Morrison.

However, federal minister Jane Hume said the best approach to wages growth was to reduce the jobless rate.

“When there is low unemployment, employers think differently,” she said.

“Around (one) million people just in the last couple of months of last year changed jobs, and they changed jobs for a pay increase of somewhere between eight and 10 percent.

“That only happens when unemployment is exceptionally low.”

Meanwhile, Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said that local businesses could not afford to lift wages by more than five percent.

“There are hundreds of thousands of small businesses, and for many of them, this would be a backbreaker,” he told Sydney radio 2GB.

“It’s not sustainable for them to be asked to pay this.”