Aussies steal another march on Kiwis 11.6.10

The Fair Work Australia’s specialist Minimum Wages Panel last week lifted their minimum wage to $15 an hour from 1 July. About 1.4 million Australian workers are affected by the decision, including about 100,000 who earn the National Minimum Wage.

This means that the Australian minimum wage is around 45 percent higher than the $NZ12.75 minimum wage. Unions in New Zealand have targeted a lift to $15 in the minimum wage and recently collected nearly 200,000 signatures in support. (See http://www.unite.org.nz/livingwage.)

Peter Conway, CTU Secretary, said today: “It is all very well for our Government to have a target to catch up with Australia by 2025 but what about a target for 2011 or 2012?”

“The reality is that we are drifting further and further behind. Ordinary time average weekly earnings in Australia rose 5.9 percent in the year to February. New Zealand’s average ordinary time hourly earnings rose 2.2 percent in the year to March, and actually fell between September 2009 and March.”

The gap in take home pay between those on low and high incomes will widen even further in October with the effect of the tax cuts. For instance the gap in take home pay between someone on $30,000 and $120,000 grows by $72.89.

Peter Conway said, “We can’t close the gap with Australia with tax cuts. We need to lift wages through regular and considerable wage rises, a lift in the minimum wage, and improvements in productivity that flow on to workers.”