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NFF calls for wage case to take notice of regional Australia
25 Mar 2004
The National Farmers’ Federation will today argue that a wage rise will cost jobs in rural Australia in its closing submissions to the Full Bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in the national wage case.
NFF Industrial Advocate, Denita Harris will ask the Full Bench to adopt a balanced approach which also considers the negative consequences a wage increase would have on farmers recovering from drought and regional businesses, and their capacity to employ.
“NFF has provided evidence that overall rural businesses are far less profitable and are more in debt than their city counterparts,” NFF Industrial Committee Chair, Mr Duncan Fraser said. “Further, the demand for labour is more responsive to wage changes than in the city.”
Mr Fraser said NFF’s closing submission would conclude that the greater adverse consequences to rural businesses from a wage increase should be given significant weight by the Commission.
Previously the Commission has taken into account sector by sector variances such as the drought as well as macro economic evidence. NFF is seeking a third component – a comparison of regional and city differences.
“We have extensive evidence on the state of the Australian farming sector which outlines particular problems for the livestock and irrigation sectors, ongoing drought in some regions and the negative forecasts recently provided by ABARE,” Mr Fraser said.
“Only 10 per cent of jobs have been recovered following the significant fall in agricultural employment during the drought in the past two years. Employment in agriculture dropped by nearly 20 per cent.
“In light of all the economic evidence provided by NFF and the evidence that agricultural employment is particularly susceptible to wage increases, NFF opposes the claim by the ACTU for a $26.60 per week wage increase.”
by Mairi Barton, General Manager Public Relations, NFF
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