Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese is refusing to guarantee he will formally ask the independent wage umpire to lift the minimum wage by 5.1 per cent, in line with inflation.
The Labor leader remains adamant he wants the Fair Work Commission to lift wages next month and said he was "amazed" the Coalition had not offered the same guarantee.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dubbed Mr Albanese a "loose unit" on the economy, saying an increase of that magnitude would send the economy into an inflationary spiral — effectively implying that workers will need to wear the real-term hit to their wallets.
Nearly everyone who has checked their bank account recently is probably well aware that their pay packet has not kept up with the growing costs of daily life.
Inflation has grown by 5.1 per cent since June last year, when the Fair Work Commission gave minimum wage workers a 2.5 per cent pay rise.
Labor has been campaigning on an increase to wages nationwide and on Tuesday, Mr Albanese was grilled on whether that meant he supported the Fair Work Commission lifting minimum pay by at least 5.1 per cent next month to ensure the nation's lowest-paid workers did not see wages go backwards in real terms.
While refusing to guarantee the 5.1 per cent would be in a Labor government submission, Mr Albanese repeatedly said the FWC was "well aware" of his party's position.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Labor leader should not be putting a finger on the scale of the considerations the Fair Work Commission must weigh up.
"The Fair Work Commission is the appropriate body for considering all the implications of where we set the minimum wage," Mr Morrison said.
"You need to balance all of these things very carefully … What is the point of allowing someone to be put in a position where they are paying more and more, even more as a result of the inflationary impacts of what he was saying yesterday?"
But the Prime Minister dodged the implication of not backing a 5.1 per cent pay rise: an effective pay cut for those on the minimum wage.
Responding to Mr Morrison's "loose unit" sledge, Mr Albanese retorted the Prime Minister was being "loose with the truth".
"What we are talking about here is the lowest-paid workers in Australia … workers who are paid $20.33 an hour to be paid $1 extra. That is what this debate is about," he said.
"I'm amazed that this is not a bipartisan issue."
Morrison and Albanese will not be deciding your pay
It is not unheard-of for a government to advocate for larger or smaller wage increases (former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, for example, warned the Commission in 2017 against an "excessive" pay increase).
Federal and state governments and the opposition commonly make submissions to the Fair Work Commission each year when the minimum wage rate is considered — though they do not necessarily advocate for a particular outcome.
Even if a government does pressure the Fair Work Commission on wages, the authority is independent and decides for itself whether to increase wage rates.
The Coalition argues it is not for them to push pay higher, but rather that people's pay will improve as the unemployment rate falls.
However, some academics say it will take active intervention by government to get people's pay packets moving.
Researchers at the Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work have pinned sluggish wage growth on low minimum wages, the erosion of collective bargaining and pay caps on government employees.
They say low unemployment alone will not be enough to lift wages, and whoever wins the election will need to introduce policies to actively boost wages.
Last week, the Reserve Bank advised when it lifted interest rates for the first time in more than a decade that it was beginning to see evidence of wage growth.
But the RBA has also indicated real wages will not begin to grow until 2023, meaning people's relative pay will continue to shrink for now.
The head of Treasury said in February that nationwide wages could grow by as much as 4 per cent and put "no pressure" on inflation, as long as productivity kept up.
Mr Morrison said advocating for wage growth of 5.1 per cent was "reckless" and could send the economy into a spiral that pushes interest rates higher.
"It's like throwing fuel on the fire of rising interest rates and rising cost of living," Mr Morrison said.
But Mr Albanese said that was "nonsense".
"As any economist knows and the Reserve Bank knows — if you have wage increases no more than inflation plus productivity, then that isn't inflationary," he said.
