Morrison’s statement could prove expensive at a time when consumer price gains, of 5.1%, are at their highest since 2007 but wages growth has yet to materially pick up, adding to pressures on household balance sheets.
Opposition Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who is leading in opinion polls ahead of the May 21 vote, has called for wages growth to match inflation, from below 2.5% now, attracting criticism from Morrison who said a 5.1% pay increase “can feed into inflation, which pushes up interest rates and pushes up the cost of living even more.”Australia’s heavily indebted households, sending consumer sentiment to the weakest since August 2020.
“The cost of everything is going up,” he said in a televised debate Wednesday night. “People are doing it tough. Those people who are on minimum wages, if the increase is less than the inflation rate, then what that means is they will be getting a real wage cut and they deserve better than that.” Morrison said he welcomed pay rises for all workers but pointed to small businesses who are “doing it incredibly tough. They are the ones who employ people. And we want to make sure they can keep employing people.”