Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke thinks broad wage rises of 3.5 per cent are an anchor point, not a cap, and has distanced himself from claims by the ACTU that business leaders worried about a wage-price spiral are living in “Boomer fantasy land”.
“I expect it’ll be the case that there’ll be union agreements that are higher and non-union agreements that are lower.” He said there was no risk of a 1970s-style wage-price spiral “because real wages are not spiking at the moment, real wages are running at 2.4 per cent”. Asked if the RBA board needed representation from the union side of wage negotiations, Burke said it was important all boards of government were as representative and as skills-based, with the required expertise, as possible.