Australian Labor Party Seizes Power After 9 Years, Proposes Raising Minimum Wage by Over 5%

Tony Burke, Australian Minister for Labor
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Australia's new Labor government is pushing a policy to raise the minimum wage by more than 5%.

According to local media on the 3rd, the government has requested the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to increase the minimum wage, currently AUD 20.33 per hour (approximately 18,297 KRW), by at least 5.1%. This government is the Labor Party administration that won the general election on the 21st of last month, regaining power after 9 years.

The FWC, an independent body that received the request, plans to decide the minimum wage applicable for the 2023 fiscal year within this month. If the government's request is accepted, Australia's minimum wage will rise by at least AUD 1 to AUD 21.36 starting from July.

Tony Burke, Australia's Minister for Labor, explained, "Today, the new Labor government has abolished the previous (Liberal-National Coalition) government's deliberate low-wage policy after 10 years," adding, "This is the image of a government willing to fight for higher wage levels." He further emphasized, "A minimum wage increase is urgently needed to prevent the real wages of low-wage workers from regressing."

Anthony Albanese, Australia's Prime Minister, also argued, "Since many low-wage workers are young women, a real wage increase will also help reduce the gender wage gap."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.