Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Fair Work Commission has delivered a 5.2 per cent rise in the minimum wage, slightly above headline inflation;

(b) its decision means an extra $40 a week for full-time workers on the minimum wage or low-paid awards; and

(c) many low-paid workers are young, female, in casual employment, and are far more likely to find themselves experiencing financial hardship, and many of them are on the frontline delivering essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic;

(2) acknowledges that:

(a) the Government put forward its own submission to the Fair Work Commission advocating for an immediate wage increase for Australia's low-paid workers;

(b) for nearly a decade, low wages were a deliberate design feature of the former Government; and

(c) high and rising inflation, and weak wages growth are reducing real wages across the economy and creating cost-of-living pressures for Australia's low-paid workers; and

(3) congratulates the:

(a) Government's action as Australia's low-paid workers will be better off because the Government fought to get them a pay rise; and

(b) Government on its position that it does not want to see Australian workers go backwards.

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