Roger Sowry
National Labour & Industrial Relations Spokesman

23 February 2004

Rising minimum wage is lose-lose situation

It is young and unskilled people who will lose most from the Government's increase to the minimum wage, says National's Labour and Industrial Relations spokesman Roger Sowry.

The Government today announced a 5.9% pay increase to the minimum adult wage, from $8.50 to $9.

Mr Sowry says though on the face of it the wage increase looks like it will benefit low-income workers, it is these people who will pay the highest price for the Government's policy.

"This increase comes on top of the Government's holiday legislation, which will cost business an extra 2% on average. That's almost an 8% increase to some employers' wage bills.

"You don't have to own a very big business before the cost of these two policies will not only mean no new jobs, but also jobs being lost.

"The rise will prove costly to business and deadly to employees," says Mr Sowry

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

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