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Speaker 1: Well. From July one this year, Territorium workers are set

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Speaker 1: to receive a minimum wage increase of three point seven

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Speaker 1: five percent. There is also going to be a three

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Speaker 1: hundred dollars energy bill relief, A relief, I should say,

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Speaker 1: there's a bit of a change to our superannuation and

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Speaker 1: an increase in paid parental leave to twenty two weeks.

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Speaker 1: But we also know that our power bills are on

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Speaker 1: the way up in the Northern Territory three point nine percent.

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Speaker 1: I believe that's in line with CPI if I recall

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Speaker 1: what the Chief Minister had told us previously. Joining us

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Speaker 1: on the line, though, is Union's NT president David Strawbs Hayes.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to your Strawbs.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and good morning to the business.

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Speaker 1: Now. Strabs tell us this wage increase, it sounds like

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Speaker 1: a good thing for minimum wage earners. How much is

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Speaker 1: it going to mean to the average Territorian?

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Speaker 2: Oh, look, Coatie. For award reliant workers, they receive a

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Speaker 2: three point seventy annual increase. And if you if you

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Speaker 2: can bind that with the cost of living bonuses that

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Speaker 2: the federal government put in place a tax cup, we'll

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Speaker 2: see people such as cleaners you know FOURK with drivers,

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Speaker 2: community service workers getting over forty dollars a week extra

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Speaker 2: in their pay, which is a great.

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Speaker 1: Outcomey, Yeah, right, so it is you know, it is

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Speaker 1: those kind of workers. Any other sort of sectors that

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Speaker 1: are going to receive that increase.

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Speaker 2: Oh, you look at hospitality, retail, hkre all those sort

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Speaker 2: of areas will receive this bonus. So a lot of

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Speaker 2: the industries that rely on their awards for their conditions

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Speaker 2: at work, those awards will receive these increases, and all

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Speaker 2: those lower paid areas important workers, but lower paid, will

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Speaker 2: receive these increases and provide some great relief in a

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Speaker 2: time where wherever one's battling to play the bill.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say, it's a tough one

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Speaker 1: at the moment. We know that the cost of living

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Speaker 1: is so high. So I'm guessing some people listening are

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Speaker 1: going to be sort of scratching their heads saying, is

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Speaker 1: it going to make much of a difference when it

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Speaker 1: comes to the overall budgets of locals.

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Speaker 2: Well, Katie, there's probably around twenty one and a half

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Speaker 2: thousand territory workers that will receive these increases, and that's

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Speaker 2: a lot of people that's a lot of families that

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Speaker 2: will get some relief and some help. We always, you know,

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Speaker 2: we always seek more and other ways to find some savings,

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Speaker 2: but this will be a big help for a huge

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Speaker 2: cohort of territory workers.

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Speaker 1: Now, tell me what about these tax changes that the

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Speaker 1: federal government have announced. Is it going to have a

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Speaker 1: bit of a flow on effect obviously to territories.

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Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely, Katie. So every taxpayer will receive tax cuts

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Speaker 2: as are the first of July. So if you take

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Speaker 2: a worker, for example, who is on about seventy three

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Speaker 2: grand a year, they'll get fifteen hundred dollars tax cut

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Speaker 2: or twenty eight bucks a week back in their pocket.

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Speaker 2: And that obviously the different scales for the different tax

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Speaker 2: brackets affect people differently, but every worker will receive a

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Speaker 2: tax cut, and that's all a big at this point

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Speaker 2: in time.

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Speaker 1: Then we know there is going to be a power

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Speaker 1: bill increase though for Territorians, no doubt that's still going

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Speaker 1: to have a bit of an impact.

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Speaker 2: It will, But we do have the federal government power

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Speaker 2: bill relations it's coming in. That's three hundred dollars for

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Speaker 2: every household and that'll be paid in quarterly installments of

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Speaker 2: seventy five dollars, so that will help. And we need

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Speaker 2: to remember that we do have publicly owned assets here

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Speaker 2: in the MT with power water and t Gen, and

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Speaker 2: if we're privately owned, we would see those increases being

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Speaker 2: a lot bigger.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I suppose the other problem is though, when those

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Speaker 1: power prices don't go up, and look on all for

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Speaker 1: the power prices staying as low as possible. I know

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Speaker 1: that my power bill is certainly pretty high, and I

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Speaker 1: reckon most territorians would say the same. But I suppose

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Speaker 1: the problem is sometimes when you don't see those increases

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Speaker 1: go up, then there's not as much investment into infrastructure

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Speaker 1: as what there could be.

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Speaker 2: No, and look under the Austrain Energy Regulator, the big

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Speaker 2: review that happens, and power water work on a file

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Speaker 2: you plan with that. So there's a huge amount of

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Speaker 2: funds that are allocated and invested into the networks and

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Speaker 2: into the generations, and they're done on a very big plan,

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Speaker 2: you know, with a very big plan in place, and

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Speaker 2: it's about getting the best banks of bucks for the

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Speaker 2: consumer in relation to the infrastructure that's in place and

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Speaker 2: how that's maintained. So there is a cost, but luckily

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Speaker 2: we've got these publicly owned assets, and we definitely say

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Speaker 2: that we're in a better position than we would be

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Speaker 2: if we had privately owned such as South Australia in place.

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Speaker 1: About that, yeah, yeah, it'd be you would expect that

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Speaker 1: there'd be bigger increases. So we're lucky in that sense. Hey, Jobs,

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Speaker 1: we are sort of Last time you and I spoke,

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Speaker 1: there were some issues out there with our local workers

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Speaker 1: that impacts. Has there been much of an update in

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Speaker 1: that space.

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Speaker 2: No, we're meeting with Monodelphus, a contractor out there. Next

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Speaker 2: Friday is our next meeting plan. So at this point

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Speaker 2: in time, we're just in a bit of a holding pattern,

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Speaker 2: but we'll be sure to keep you updated with that one. Cadie, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: that'd be good.

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Speaker 1: Storms appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so very

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Speaker 1: much for having a chat with us and just talking

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Speaker 1: through that wage increase, the minimum wage increase. It does

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Speaker 1: seem like it's good news for plenty of Territorians.

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Speaker 2: It absolutely Thanks for your answer, Scottie.

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Speaker 1: Thank you