Senior public servants – earning hundreds of thousands of dollars
already – received an up-to 19% pay increase; those earning minimum
wage got a mere 4% increase, an additional AU$21 per week swallowed by
increasing petrol and food prices.
Providing a five-fold percent increase to those already earning more
than five-times minimum wage exacerbates the disparity at both ends of
income. It’s a veritable slap-in-the-face to those struggling to make
ends meet and to get ahead, to those performing some of our most
unforgiving, thankless jobs.
Even 457-visa holders must be paid at least 50% more than minimum-wage
Australian citizens. This award structure ensures that "the rich get
richer and the poor get poorer," and the middle class is increasingly
populated by temporary residents, not Australians.
What’s happened to Labor’s advocating "wage restraint"? To the
Australian "fair go"? We risk our future by "out-sourcing" our middle
class, and separating our "haves" and "have nots" to ever- increasing
extremes.
Judy Bamberger,
O’Connor ACT