Wednesday 11 May 2022 11:53 PM Scott Morrison branded 'desperate, unhinged' for opposing $1 wage hike trends now
Scott Morrison has been slammed as 'desperate' and 'unhinged' for stubbornly opposing a $1-an-hour wage hike despite pocketing thousands more every year.
The prime minister branded Anthony Albanese a 'loose unit' on the economy after the Labor leader on Tuesday said he would 'absolutely' support hiking the minimum wage by 5.1 per cent in line with inflation.
The leaders locked horns over the contentious wage increase in the early stages of the final election debate hosted by Channel 7 on Wednesday night.
Mr Morrison again blasted the Labor leader for being 'loose with the economy' and said such a large increase would stoke price rises further.
'You've got to understand how the economy works, and if you just say 5.1 per cent and try to jawbone the Fair Work Commission, that puts Australia's economy at great risk and we can't afford that sort of lack of understanding about how our economy works,' the PM said.
Labor's treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers called Mr Morrison 'unhinged' for failing to address the cost of living and refusing to bolster low-income workers.
Scott Morrison (pictured on Wednesday) has been slammed as 'desperate' and 'unhinged' for stubbornly opposing a $1-an-hour wage hike despite pocketing thousands more every year
'This prime M=minister is desperate, unhinged and doing all this name calling as a desperate attempt to distract from the cost of living crisis and from the policy of real wage cuts,' he told news.com.au.
Mr Chalmers said Mr Morrison was trying to distract from the cost of living crisis by coming up with 'desperate distractions' from the real issue of wage cuts.
'Scott Morrison in one press conference says that the government shouldn't indicate a view at the same time as he's saying 5.1 per cent is too high,' he said.
'He can't have it both ways.'
Mr Chalmers added the Labor leader had not entered a formal submission to the Fair Work Commission to support a 5.1 per cent pay rise.
'We have already made the case that Australia's low paid workers shouldn't be going backwards. Whether that's in a formal submission or not, our view is already incredibly clear,' he said.
Mr Morrisons' opposition of the price hike for minimum wage workers comes after the salaries of politicians soared by 30 per cent over the past decade.
Mr Albanese said on Tuesday said he would 'absolutely' support hiking the minimum wage by 5.1 per cent in line with inflation (pictured, a cafe worker in Perth)
The leaders locked horns over the contentious wage increase in the early stages of the final election debate hosted by Channel 7 on Wednesday night (pictured)
Their base pay has been boosted from $140,000 a year to $211,250 over the past 10 years while the PM's wage jumped to $550,000.
Mr Albanese stood by his position on Wednesday night, saying an extra dollar an hour for people on the $20.33 minimum wage would not damage the economy.
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