Key events
Greens call for immediate pay rises for minimum wage earners
Josh Butler
Greens leader Adam Bandt says he wants to see next week’s jobs summit lead to immediate pay rises for those on the minimum wage and in women-dominated industries, warning his party wouldn’t be a “rubber stamp” for Labor.
The government will hold its jobs and skills summit on Thursday and Friday next week. Bandt, who accepted an invitation and will appear with employment spokesperson Barbara Pocock, said the Greens wanted to see a “greater role for government in setting wages across the board” through the Fair Work Act.
Bandt said the Greens would seek to amend any legislation coming out of the summit to include an immediate lift to wages, through several amendments to the Fair Work Act.
One would set the minimum wage at 60% of the median adult wage, or $23.76 per hour; the other would mandate annual wage rises at least 0.5% above the inflation rate for wages in women-dominated industries like the care sector. Bandt said his party would make moves to that effect in the Senate.
Bandt said:
Government must lift wages now. Not in 3 years, not when there have been skills reforms, but now.
If and when any proposals from the Jobs Summit hit the Senate, the Greens will push to change the law to guarantee wage rises.
Pocock said the Greens still wanted to see an end to the stage 3 tax cuts, due to come into effect in 2024, noting they would disproportionately benefit men as higher-income earners. She said:
We need pay increases in the fast expanding care and services economy. We need targeted access for women to the expanding skilled jobs sector as the energy transition unfolds across Australia.
If the test is making working people’s lives better, the summit is doomed to fail unless it lifts low wages now and provides immediate cost of living relief. Instead of the unfair Stage 3 tax cuts, the government should fund free childcare, get dental into Medicare and build affordable housing, giving households real cost living relief immediately.
Sydney records over two metres of rain for first time since 1963
As I blog with the rain falling outside, it comes in addition to 2,000mm fallen so far this year in Sydney.
Meteorologist Ben Domensino revealed late last night it’s the first time the city has exceeded two metres of rain since 1963 and by far the earliest date to do so since 1859.
#BREAKING – #Sydney has just surpassed 2,000 mm of rainfall so far this year. This is the city’s first two-metre year since 1963, and by far its earliest date to exceed two metres in annual records dating back to 1859. pic.twitter.com/YNFIXvz4vb
— Ben Domensino (@Ben_Domensino) August 26, 2022
Good morning!
And welcome to this Saturday morning Guardian blog.
The Greens are calling for immediate pay rises for those on the minimum wage and in women dominated industries to come out of the government’s jobs summit.
The Greens leader Adam Bandt and employment spokesperson Barbara Pocock, say they want to see a “greater role for government in setting wages across the board” through the Fair Work Act. We’ll bring you more on their proposals shortly.
With 90 days to go until the Victorian state election is held, a Newspoll conducted exclusively for The Weekend Australian shows premier Daniel Andrews is on track to win a third term for Labor.
The poll shows Labor’s primary vote has fallen only slightly since the 2018 election while dissatisfaction with opposition leader Matthew Guy’s performance has risen seven points since voter sentiment was last tested.
What are you up to this Saturday? If you’re seeing or hearing something interesting, you can ping me @natasha__may on Twitter or send an email to natasha.may@theguardian.com.
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