ACSJC
AUSTRALIAN
CATHOLIC
SOCIAL
JUSTICE
COUNCIL
24 –
32 O’RIORDAN STREET
ALEXANDRIA
NSW 2015
Tel: +61 (0) 2 8306
3499 Fax: +61 (0) 2 8306
3498
29 April 2010
MEDIA RELEASE
Australia Fair? A nation at the crossroads
Australia is at the crossroads according to the Chairman of the Australian
Catholic Social Justice Council, Bishop Christopher Saunders, who has
issued a Pastoral Letter for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker (1 May).
Comparing the circumstances of the richest and poorest Australians following
the global financial crisis, he says, ‘How we respond to the needs of the
poorest individuals and families will characterise the spirit of this nation.
‘Over the past decade, minimum wages have fallen further behind average
weekly earnings. Safety net wages, even when supplemented by family
benefits, have not prevented families falling into poverty or coming close to it.
‘In 2009, the Australian Fair Pay Commission imposed a wage freeze on 1.6
million safety net workers with the aim of preventing job loss and promoting
economic recovery. This burden has not been carried proportionally by the
average income earner, and still less by those at the highest levels of the
wealth spectrum.
‘While the lowest paid workers endure a pay freeze for the sake of Australia’s
economic interests, the Productivity Commission recently dismissed
suggestions of pay caps or reduced tax concessions on executive
remuneration on the grounds that this “could damage our national economic
interests”’, Bishop Saunders said.
Drawing on Pope Benedict XVI’s Encyclical, ‘Charity in Truth’, the Bishop
highlights the need for long-term development with adequate protections for
low paid and unemployed workers.
‘Equity and justice must be built into the operation of the market and not
remain just an afterthought. The market must not be a place where the strong
subdue the weak. The minimum wage decision that Fair Work Australia
makes in June will be a critical test of this nation’s fairness,’ Bishop Saunders
concluded.
For further information:
Bishop Christopher Saunders
Chairman, ACSJC
Tel: 0418 260 155
John Ferguson
National Executive Officer, ACSJC
Tel: 02 8306 3499
NEWS 
