Dear Ms Spender,
Your commitment to economic transparency and generational fairness is well known. I am writing to present evidence of a systematic distortion in Australia’s tax and wage architecture that has gone unremediated for 26 years.
The distortion in brief:
· Pre‑GST (1999): Minimum wage was 92% of the government’s adequacy standard (Chart C).
· Post‑GST (2000 – present): Minimum wage collapsed to 72% of adequacy and has been locked there for 104 quarters. R² = 0.9987. Probability of chance: < 1 in 10¹⁵⁶.
The dual failure:
1. Wage suppression: The legal floor is $948/week, while Chart C says $1,309.95/week is needed for self‑sufficiency – a 27.6% gap.
2. Regressive taxation: The 10% GST applies fully to essentials, taxing people already below adequacy. The CPI, which the government relies on, underweights housing, utilities, food, and healthcare, hiding the true inflation burden on low‑income households.
The consequence: 4.8 million full‑time workers (nearly one‑third of the workforce) earn less than the government’s own poverty line. Linked systems – WorkCover, Medicare, Superannuation, NDIS, aged care – are collapsing as a result.
The remedy:
· Correct the minimum wage to 100% of Chart C ($1,309.95/week).
· Adopt the Low Essential Cost Index (LECI) for low‑income indexation.
· Publish an annual “Constant Report” showing the wage‑to‑adequacy ratio.
I have attached a one‑page fact sheet and the full 104‑quarter dataset. I welcome the opportunity to present this evidence to you or your policy team.
Robert George Paturzo‑Elliott
Independent researcher
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