Labor’s bid to help low paid Aussies by raising award wage at the Fair Work Commission

Peter Dutton has reacted to Labor’s push for Australia’s independent wages tribunal to give a pay rise to three million award workers.

Peter Dutton has not committed to following Anthony Albanese’s submission for an above inflation wage increase for award workers, but he has declared the Coalition wants Australians’ pay to increase.

After the Prime Minister announced he would write to the independent Fair Work Commission, which will decide any wage increase, Mr Dutton said wanted real wages to go up.

“We support wage increases. Families have gone backwards under this government. There’s been seven quarters where families have been in recession,” he said.

“Real wages have gone down under this government.

“(We’re) without economic advice from treasury and finance, our position is we want higher wages, and we want to make sure we have downward pressure on costs because under this government, real wages have gone backwards.”

Mr Dutton’s comments come after Labor said it is urging Australia’s independent wages tribunal to give a payrise to three million award workers including cleaners, retail workers and early childhood educators.

The government will today make a submission to the Fair Work Commission, the independent body responsible for setting award rates and minimum wage, to give low income workers an “economically sustainable real wage increase”.

The submission does not nominate a set per cent or dollar increase but calls for the Commission to go further than its current settings, arguing Labor’s economic plan will prevent the pay rises from being inflationary.

“Inflation has come down substantially and is on track to return sustainably to the RBA’s target band this year. An increase in minimum and award wages should be consistent with this,“ the report said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the campaign trail In Victoria. Picture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Liberal Party would “wreck the economy” while Labor would boost wages.

“During the last campaign, as I travelled around the country, I was asked if I supported a wage increase for low paid workers, Ï said, absolutely,“ he said.

“This campaign we will again be advocating for workers to get a pay rise to not only help them deal with the pressures of today, but to get ahead in the future.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices in Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen / NewsWire

Treasurer Jim Chalmers took a swipe at the Coalition’s decision to oppose Labor’s $5 a week tax cuts and rule out their own cuts.

“Boosting wages, cutting taxes for every taxpayer and creating more jobs are a central part of our efforts to help Australians with the cost of living,“ he said.

“The choice at this election is between a Labor government which has been creating jobs, getting wages moving again, rebuilding living standards and rolling out responsible cost of living help versus a Coalition that wants Australians working longer for less.”