As we gear up for the annual fight over the minimum wage it was nice to hear the governor of the Reserve Bank last week come out in defence of low-paid workers getting a pay rise.

Business groups and conservative media always seek to spread fear that pay rises for the low paid will cause an outbreak of inflation. So it was good to have someone at the highest level push back against such tosh.

In case you missed it, the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, was asked a leading question about the impact of a 23% wage rise for aged care workers on inflation.

She replied that “I don’t think anyone would begrudge aged care workers a rise. They have been historically underpaid for the work they do. It’s a very important job and there are shortages in those industries. So I think it’s a very worthy pay rise.”

She then added: “I don’t think it will make a measurable difference really to what we’re forecasting.”

Hurrah! Some sense (and empathy) at last!

And given the latest inflation figures out yesterday showed that inflation remains at manageable levels despite the surprising fall in unemployment in February, we should continue to be joyful.

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Over the year to February inflation rose 3.4%, and if prices continue to rise as they have over the past six months annual inflation will be well below 3%.

But of course this will not stop calls that we need to worry about wages because the annual cries against........

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