The Labor leader's suggestion has placed industrial relations firmly at the centre of the impending election campaign.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is preparing to legislate a "living wage" if he becomes prime minister, in a move that would boost minimum pay packets and embolden unions but alarm corporate Australia just two months out from the federal election.
Mr Shorten is under pressure to increase the living wage amid a renewed push by the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The ACTU will kick off its industrial relations campaign with a rally in Attorney-General Christian Porter's marginal seat of Pearce in Western Australia. He said Labor was unlikely to remove the requirement for the commission to also consider "the performance and competitiveness of the national economy, including productivity" when deciding by how much to lift pay packets.
"It simply isn't fair, nor sustainable for economic confidence in this country that an adult could work full-time and be earning $18.93 an hour at the minimum wage before tax," he said.A legislative change to the Fair Work Act would dwarf any of the other six wage proposals floated by Mr Shorten in an election he has labelled a "referendum on wages".
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