Interview with Sally Sara - ABC Radio National Breakfast

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

SALLY SARA, HOST:    July 1 will bring about a pay boost with a 3.5 per cent increase to minimum and award wages taking effect. But as the Government marks the measures as building the nation's future, the Opposition is warning they will come at a cost to future generations. Joining me now is Amanda Rishworth, the Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, who is with me here in our Parliament House studio. Minister, welcome back to Radio National Breakfast.

AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS:    Great to be with you.

SALLY SARA:    On tariffs, US President Donald Trump says he's not planning to extend a 90 day pause on tariffs on most nations beyond the 9th of July when the negotiating period is set to expire. Is the Federal Government disappointed by that?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    I would say that we've had a very consistent position on tariffs right the way through. We've been very clear that we don't believe that you put these tariffs on a friend like Australia. And we've also been very clear that tariffs hurt American consumers. So, we've consistently been putting our position about why we don't think Australia should have these tariffs imposed on us. But we recognise that this is a decision made by the United States and is broadly across the world. So, we'll keep working very diligently with our United States counterparts. But what we won't do is compromise on our national interests.

SALLY SARA:    Is there anything that Australia can do in the next week and a half to try and get an exemption? Is there any confidence that that might happen?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    We're working methodically. We've been consistently putting a lot of effort into working with the United States and we will continue to do that on an ongoing basis. But look, this is a challenge that many countries are dealing with, and we will keep putting our best foot forward, but making sure at the same time we're not compromising our national interest.

SALLY SARA:    Now to the increase in minimum and award wages. Lowest paid workers will earn about $30 more in a 38-hour week. Given how the cost of living has continued to rise, will it really be enough to make much of a difference?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Well, we very much welcome the Fair Work Commission's decision for a 3.5 per cent wage. This is a real wage increase. When you have inflation running at 2.4 per cent, what you have is a Commission that's delivered a real wage increase. We have, as a Government, consistently called on the Commission to ensure that our lowest paid workers don't go backwards. And this is now a combination of over 21 per cent increase in award and minimum wages since we've been in Government. So, we've been really clear that we want to see more people getting this increase and I'm really pleased about that. But we're also seeing real wages grow across the economy, not just for our minimum and award wage workers. Our Government has been absolutely focused, for example, on getting enterprise bargaining going again to deliver real wage increases. So, this is a really important decision by the Fair Work Commission for our lowest paid workers and recognises that they need a real wage increase.

SALLY SARA:    Tomorrow we'll also see the general Super Guarantee rate increase to 12 per cent. It had been delayed out of concern for employers capacity to pay, but plenty of small businesses are doing it tough. What makes you confident that businesses are ready for this now?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    I'd say this trajectory to get to 12 per cent has been a long time coming and is an important measure to ensure that workers have enough money to retire on in their superannuation. When the Fair Work Commission was deciding on what the minimum wage should be. they did take into consideration the fact that the Superannuation Guarantee was increasing as well. But this has been a long-term phased-in increase to the super guarantee. It was paused by the previous Government. But the previous Government also had an agenda to keep wages low. So, we shouldn't be surprised.

SALLY SARA:    Minister, let me bring you back to the question. What makes you confident that businesses are ready for this now?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    When it came to the minimum wage increase, the Commission considered the impact on businesses. What I would say is that there is still a significant demand for labour in this country. There is historically low unemployment and at the same time we're seeing interest rates coming down. We know some are doing it tough, but broadly it is a stable position that we currently have.

SALLY SARA:    You're listening to Radio National Breakfast and my guest is Amanda Rishworth, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. On another matter over the weekend, it was the second anniversary of the Parliamentary Inquiry into online gambling and its harms, handing down its final report. In your previous role as Social Services Minister, you gave the green light for the committee to commence this inquiry. Why has the Government failed to respond after all of this time?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Well, first I would say that it was a very broad ranging inquiry. It had 31 recommendations and since that work had begun, the Government didn't sit on its hands and not do anything. We brought in a range of measures. In fact, probably the largest number of measures historically any Australian Government has done. For example, we banned the use of credit cards. We've introduced activity statements to make sure that people understand what's happening. We have pre-verification now to make sure that you can't just get online without identifying yourself. And we have now an exclusionary measure to allow people to exclude themselves through BetStop, which has had 38,000 people opt in to that. There's been more measures than that, but they've been important measures. So, we haven't been sitting on our hands waiting to respond. We've been getting on with the job.

SALLY SARA:    Let's have a listen. Last week we heard from Mark Kempster, a former gambling addict who gave evidence at the parliamentary inquiry. This is what he had to say.

MARK KEMPTER [AUDIO]:   I do so much work now with people who are going through addictions and trying to help them out of their addictions. And I know for a fact some of the people I've been mentoring and sponsoring to help get them through have taken their lives in the last 12 months because they feel like they can just never get away from it. So, if the Government think they're doing enough, and I can tell them right now, they're costing lives by their inaction at the moment.

SALLY SARA:    So, Australians are still losing more than $25 billion annually on legal forms of gambling. That's the largest per capita losses in the world. Why have this inquiry if two years later – I know you've mentioned other measures, but on this particular inquiry – why have this inquiry if two years later you haven't acted on the recommendations?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Well, there were many recommendations, as I said in that report, and a number of the intentions of those recommendations have been addressed by some of the measures. But of course, we will continue to recognise and look at how we can best support people when it comes to minimising the harm of online gambling. But there's no silver bullet here. Addiction and gambling addiction, as we've just heard.

SALLY SARA:    Will there be a response in this term to this report?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Well, I'm not the Minister. I'm not the Minister for Social Services, I'm not the Minister for Communications. But I would draw you back to the fact that we have taken significant steps in terms of reducing the harm of online gambling and we recognise the impact it does have.

SALLY SARA:    Amanda Rishworth Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Thank you for your time this morning.