Anthony Albanese’s government set to support another minimum wage rise to keep up with inflation

Anthony Albanese‘s government has hinted it will back minimum wage increase in line with inflation, which is currently at 7 per cent.

Employment Minister Tony Burke said ‘our values haven’t changed’ when asked what would be in their submission to the Fair Work commission on Friday.

‘The thing that we must work our way through is there are some members of the workforce who have the least room to move with what’s been happening with inflation, and certainly the full award system goes all the way up to some people who are on significantly higher wages,’ he told ABC RN Breakfast.

‘Last year, we put forward the principle that the focus needed to be on the people on the lowest incomes because they had the least savings, they had the least room to move.’

Employment Minister Tony Burke (pictured) has hinted at supporting a minimum wage increase in line with inflation 

‘You’d never photocopy a submission one year to the next and it’s never identical in every way. But as I’ve said, our values haven’t changed, and what you referred to there was a pretty strong value statement for the prime minister. ‘

The value statement refers to the ideal that minimum wage workers shouldn’t go backwards in their wages.

The minimum wage was previously increased from July 1 last year after the Albanese government put in a submission calling on the Fair Work Commission to match the 5.1 per cent inflation rate at the time. 

More than 2.7 million minimum wage and low-paid workers on awards received a wage boost of up to 5.2 per cent – the most generous increase in 16 years.

which equates to a minimum rate of $812.60 per week, or $21.38 per hour.

It was the most generous wage increase in 16 years.