Queensland Workers Stand to Lose Up to $370 in Penalty Rate Cuts this Easter Break

20 April 2019

Low paid Queensland workers in retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy could be up to $370 worse off this Easter, due to Scott Morrison’s penalty rate cuts.

Low paid Queensland workers in retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy could be up to $370 worse off this Easter, due to Scott Morrison’s penalty rate cuts.
 
Queensland workers who rely on penalty rates will be dealt another blow to their pay packets in the ten-day period from Good Friday, with cuts by up to the following amounts:
 

  • Fast Food: $218.22
  • Hospitality: $281.78
  • Retail: $276.55
  • Pharmacy: $369.41
  • Restaurant: $225.40


Even bigger cuts to Sunday penalty rates will occur this July, and the July after that, unless a Shorten Labor Government is elected.
 
At a time when everything is going up except wages, Scott Morrison is so out of touch that he supports cuts to penalty rates.
 
It says everything you need to know about the Liberals when they’re willing to see  workers’ wages be cut - but giving millionaires at the top end of town an $11,000 a year tax cut.
 
Scott Morrison and the Liberals had eight opportunities in the Parliament to protect penalty rates and they voted against them each time. 
 
Labor understands that penalty rates are not a luxury. For many families, they are what pays the bills and puts food on the table.   
If elected, in the first 100 days, we will legislate to reverse the cuts to penalty rates, restoring fair pay.  We will change the laws to make sure they can’t be cut for anyone again.  
     
Australians deserve a pay rise – and they aren’t getting one under Scott Morrison and his Liberals.        
This election is a choice between Labor’s plan to restore penalty rates, or bigger tax loopholes for the top end of town under the Liberals.  
 
After six years of Liberal cuts and chaos, our united Labor team is ready to deliver a fair go for all Australians.