PUBLIC SECTOR — WAGES
645. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to the hundreds of child
protection workers, school and TAFE support staff, people working in our
justice system, along with police and nurses who are all waiting for a fair
offer from the McGowan Labor government.
(1) What will the
Premier say to those frontline public servants who are saying that their cost
of living has gone up, particularly in the livings, but their pay has gone
backwards in real terms?
(2) When can they
expect a fair offer from his government?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
(1)–(2) The offer that the Western Australian government
put to the workforce is more generous than that which was put by the New
South Wales government, the Victorian government, the South Australian
government and the Tasmanian government in the circumstances that we face. For
lower paid workers, it is $60 per week plus an increase in superannuation, plus
a $3 000 sign-on bonus. New South Wales is offering a $2 500 sign-on bonus only
for the health workforce. We are offering it to everyone. The percentage
increase in WA is higher and the price of a house in New South Wales is double
what it is in Western Australia. In Victoria, the wages policy is 1.5 per cent.
We are offering three per cent, plus a $3 000 sign-on bonus, plus half a per cent
in superannuation; and for lower paid workers, it will be anywhere up to a six
or seven per cent increase. What we are putting to the workforce is very fair
and reasonable—so much so that the Leader of the Opposition on 21 September
2022, when asked about our wages policy, said, ''The offer was
reasonable''.