The Morrison Government has been forced to reduce projected wage growth again, the 33rd time this government has misled the Australian people about wage growth.
In this morning’s MYEFO the Government have reduced the forecast for wage growth, now claiming that it will not reach 3 per cent until 2022/23, revising their previous forecasts down 0.75 per cent for the years 2020/21 and 2021/22.
The Morrison Government has no plan to increase wage growth, in fact Ministers have previously claimed that the current seven year stretch of record-low wage growth is a desirable outcome of their economic plan.
The RBA has warned for years that the national economy is stalled due to low wage growth, yet the Morrison Government continues to attack unions, but it is unions that raise wages.
As noted by ACTU Secretary Sally McManus:
“The Morrison Government has failed the Australian people for years on wage growth. Every budget, every MYEFO, they have promised that decent wage growth was just around the corner, and they have never delivered.
“The Morrison government asked employers to raise wages. Treasurer Frydenberg even went so far as to make a bizarre prediction about people getting a $3,000 pay increase. Corporations didn’t raise wages and people didn’t get the $3,000 increase. People didn’t even get what was promised in the budget.
“The Morrison government is still hoping that the RBA will bail it out by continually reducing interest rates even though the RBA governor has called for more wage rises as a precondition for economic growth.
“The Australian union movement delivers real wage increases. Union members, on average, earn $275 a week more than non-members. We want to see wages grow across the economy, for all workers, and the best way to make that happen it to have more people in unions.
“Australian workers are now heading into their seventh year of record-low wage growth. Scott Morrison has no idea how to raise wages. Sadly, we can expect to see continued low wage growth while Morrison’s government continues to attack unions and undermine working people’s ability to win pay rises.”
