Scott Morrison welcomes Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement on introducing changes to weekend penalty rates

Treasurer Scott Morrison has lauded a proposal calling for workers who accept changes to Sunday penalty rates to be rewarded with tax credits in exchange. Labelling the decision an innovative move, Morrison spoke out a day after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that changes to penalty rates were inevitable and necessary to make the workplace more flexible.

"What you want is a tax system and a payment system that locks together, and a labour market system that links into that to ensure that you're better off working than being on welfare," he told the ABC. "We need the flexibility in our system to ensure we have this agile and innovative economy."

The government has, however, stressed that any change to the penalty rate would be subject to review by the Fair Work Commission, the independent national workplace relations tribunal. Last year, the commission had lowered the Sunday penalty rates for a few particular groups of workers.

Morrison said that the changes in the penalty rates would help the disabled and the unemployed find jobs more easily.

"I don't know why anyone would want to rule out anything that would help young people get into jobs," he said. He even slammed the Opposition by calling it obstructive for its continuous demands for maintain the penalty rates.

"If the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten wants to go back to yesterday's politics and drag us into a pro or negative penalty rates debate, I don't think that helps the economy," he said.

On Tuesday, six Liberal MPs openly supported the need for a change in the weekend penalty rates in sectors like hospitality, tourism and retail, to ensure employment and stronger business growth. The current Sunday penalty rate is double the regular rate per hour, whereas on Saturdays, workers get time-and-a-half rate.

Turnbull told Melbourne radio 3AW that uniform rates on Saturday and Sunday are a part of an outdated economy and are required to be changed to ensure more flexibility at the workplace and for that support of the workers in needed.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that Morrison’s comments are diametrically different from what the Labor stands for. He said that while the Liberals are only talking about cutting weekend penalty rates, Labor’s proposals are designed to raise the wages of Australian workers.

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