The instant analysis world we now have thanks in part to social media has seen the decision of the Fair Work Commission to cut Sunday penalty rates 12.5% turn into an ill-informed class battle for which the politicians are to blame.
The politicians created the independent umpire and left it to provide leadership on issues they consider too contentious for them to show leadership themselves.
Media reports and tweets reflect an ignorance about penalty rates.
For me, the question is: Is $39.82 an hour (plus super) for a 21 year old on a Sunday reasonable? Whether they are a retiree looking for extra money, a single mum or a uni student is not my concern. My concern as a retail business owner is – is $39.82 an hour fair pay?
I think $39.82 an hour is too much. I am happy with the 12.5% reduction. In fact, I think it could have been a bit more.
But this is where the politicians need to show leadership for you can’t have a conversation about cutting penalty rates in a climate where too many big companies are not paying a fair amount of tax, Centrelink is taking action against debts that often do not exist, politicians grant themselves above average pay rises every year, big business CEOs get millions for share price movement and large corporates are pitched a tax break.
Our politicians need to show leadership on the big picture here. If they did that, then genuine reform across multiple points of the economy might be possible.
As a business owner I am not responsible for the economic circumstances of my employees. I am responsible for paying the correct pay and meeting all other obligations. Circumstances outside the business are not my responsibility as that is what I pay payroll tax, company tax, GST, superannuation, PAYG, fuel excise and myriad other taxes for. The problem is, these many taxes are not used as well as they could be. Indeed, pigs on all sides of politics with their snouts in the taxpayer trough rort the system so much that is makes many of us look at issues like penalty rates as a what’s in it for me discussion.
Real leaders would step back and say: okay FWC, you have had your say. Now, lets look at the whole of the economy and make a series of moves in pursuit of fairness across classes on the basis that a healthy whole economy is more important that health for one class at the expense of another.
The debate that has been raging in Australia for the last two days since the FWC decision is a reflection of poor leadership on all sides in this country.
Please, can we pull this back from a debate? Can we have a conversation? And can we, for a moment, forget about pursuing headlines or a retweet?
