ACTU – Business Leaders Plot Cuts to Penalty at Regatta

6 January 2017

Business executives interviewed by Fairfax Media during the Couta Coat Classic Sailing Regatta in Sorrento have complained that paying Sunday penalty rates to their workers is too much to bear.

One of the most vocal advocates of slashing workers’ pay at the Regatta was JB HiFi boss Richard Murray, who has also just announced that his business took in a million dollars at a single store on Boxing Day.

Also present at the event was Westpac Chairman Lindsay Maxsted, who insisted that banks ‘behave very well’ and thanked the Turnbull Government for not launching a ‘costly’ Royal Commission into banking misconduct.

Mr. Maxsted did not clarify for whom the Royal Commission would have been costly.

Quotes attributable to Scott Connolly, Assistant Secretary, ACTU:

• “If there’s a way to be more out of touch with the lives of those workers who would be hurt by cuts to penalty rates I’d like to see it. These executives are musing about blowing holes in low-paid workers weekly budgets from the decks of antique yachts.”
• “Unlike spending an afternoon on a yacht, penalty rates aren’t a luxury; they are compensation for working unsociable hours and spending time away from your family on weekends. Families across Australia rely on them every week to put food on the table.”
• “These business leaders should understand that better wages means more money in the pockets of consumers, which in turn means greater profits. They can’t take money out of one side of the system and expect to maintain profits and growth.”
• “If the objective is to find more money in these businesses, then perhaps these executives should look at their ridiculous salaries first before taking money out of the pockets of their lowest paid employees.”