The government has many tools to try to lift wages. But Josh Frydenberg, while insisting he wants higher pay for Australians, refuses to use them.
What exactly is the government’s wages policy in the wake of the budget?
It’s claiming a damascene conversion to the need for wages growth and fiscal policies to achieve it, but it looks a lot more like Augustine’s “Lord make me pure, but not yet”.
If the budget forecasts are to be believed, the government is pumping extraordinary spending into the economy for what, over forward estimates, will be zero net real wages growth. They’ll fall this coming financial year, flatline from 2022 to 2024, and finally rise a small amount in 2025.
Read more about the treasurer’s tactics on wages…
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