19 June 2020
“The Increase To The Minimum Wage Is Yet Another Blow
A daily email by free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, providing the latest economic data and policy measures for journalists, commentators and IPA members. Daily IPA comment attributable to Cian Hussey, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs: “The Fair Work Commission’s decision to increase the minimum wage in the middle of the greatest employment crisis
30 August 2019
The Moral Case For An IR Overhaul
In a week’s time the federal Coalition will have been in government for six years after having won three elections in a row. For all the worthwhile things it has done over those years – and has tried to do but failed – industrial relations is one of the big policy areas the Coalition has been afraid to touch. Australia’s
21 August 2019
The First Rung: The Role Of Low-paid Work In Building Success
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), Australia’s premier free market think tank, is dedicated to preserving and strengthening the foundations of economic and political freedom. The Parliamentary Research Brief program is designed to provide politicians and policy makers around the country with succinct information on various policy areas. Our new research brief outlines the importance of low-paid work in providing
31 May 2019
The Higher Pay Paradox
In Australia, nothing is certain except death, taxes and increases to the minimum wage. And while understandably welcome news for workers, each wage hike tightens the noose around the necks of small business and millions of Australian job-seekers. Minimum wage cases have become a Groundhog Day-like ritual. Every year, the Australian Council of Trade Unions demands an unreasonably high increase,
30 May 2019
Another Blow For Job-Seekers
“Like death and taxes, we can always count on a yearly minimum wage hike,” said Gideon Rozner, Director of Policy at the free market think tank Institute of Public Affairs. “Minimum wage decisions are predictable. The Australian Council of Trade Unions makes an ambit claim – in this case 6 per cent – and employer groups make a low-ball offer
22 March 2019
Labor Push On Minimum Wage Will Hurt Those It’s Meant To Help
Bill Shorten has declared the next federal election to be a referendum on wages and has committed to raising the minimum wage to become a “living wage”. A living wage would be set to an amount that could cover necessary living expenses. While Labor has not indicated how this would be determined, the ACTU has called for the minimum wage
12 December 2018
Work Is Essential To Alleviating Poverty And Providing Dignity
“The ultimate goal of the welfare system should be to get Australians into work, which provides a path to self-sufficiency, stable income, and dignity”, said Daniel Wild, Director of Economics at the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. This week, the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) called for the Newstart Allowance to be increased by at
23 October 2018
Unions Want To Change the Rules They Wrote
Free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs has today accused the ACTU of hypocrisy for its ‘Change the Rules’ rally to rewrite Australia’s rigid industrial relations system that they themselves wrote. IPA Research Fellow Kurt Wallace said, “Australia has one of the world’s most inflexible, complex and extensive industrial relations regimes. The ACTU’s demands to slap more rules
5 April 2018
A Universal Basic Income Would Create A Permanent Underclass
Greens leader Richard Di Natale told the National Press Club yesterday that, because of the changing nature of work, Australia should introduce a universal basic income. His proposal would be costly, unnecessary and would create a permanent underclass. A UBI is a liveable, unconditional payment to all citizens. Theoretically, a UBI could be almost cost neutral if it replaced all welfare,
1 February 2018
Labor’s ‘Living Wage’ Will Hurt The Poor, Unemployed
True to form, the unions are using clever marketing to beat the drum for a lousy idea. And true to form, that lousy idea is finding its way into the policy platform of the Australian Labor Party. Yesterday, opposition workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor hinted that Labor could adopt the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ calls for what they refer
