AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
FRA
GER
ESP
ITA
NLD
PRT
SWE
GRC
IND
POL
BRA
ZAF
RUS
CHN
UAE
The Labor government will stick to its values on wage increases for Australia's lowest-paid workers, keeping the door open to an inflation-linked boost to the minimum wage.
With the industrial umpire gearing up for its next minimum wage decision, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government's submission would be "absolutely consistent with our values".
"And what we don't do in submissions, and we didn't do last time, was put a dollar figure on that principle," he told reporters on Wednesday.
During the 2022 election campaign, Mr Albanese supported a pay increase for workers earning the minimum wage to match inflation that was then running at 5.1 per cent.
The Fair Work Commission landed on a pay rise of 5.2 per cent, about an extra $1 an hour more, for Australians on minimum wages.
The government will put in its submission to the commission's upcoming minimum wage decision on Friday and after the latest update on monthly inflation figures.
Inflation has been tracking down but was still sitting at an elevated 7.4 per cent in January, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics due to release the February update on Wednesday.
The monthly consumer price index is tipped to keep falling from its December peak of 8.4 per cent annual growth.
NAB economists anticipate the monthly indicator to slide to 7.2 per cent annual growth in February from 7.4 per cent in January, in line with consensus.
Commonwealth Bank economists anticipate a softer 6.9 per cent year-on-year lift in the monthly gauge in February.
