Business and government

Senator Penny Wong, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, has been actively engaging with Pacific Island countries to address climate change, which is seen as the greatest threat to the region. However, doubts remain about whether this engagement can be sustained and deepened to strengthen relationships. Australia’s engagement in the Pacific needs to extend beyond climate and security issues and focus on understanding the region and fostering a genuine partnership.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has implemented a series of twelve interest rate hikes since April 2022 in an attempt to curb high inflation. Australia’s Fair Work Commission has also announced an increase in the National Minimum Wage to $23.23 per hour in part, to assist minimum wage workers with cost of living pressures. Griffith Business School Industry Fellow Will Banks looks at both minimum wage increase and interest rate hikes and their impact on Australia’s longer term economic well-being.

A recent UK trial of a four-day work week produced largely positive results, with over 90% of the organisations involved planning to continue the experiment. Some organisations found the experiment difficult to achieve with staff shortages already intensifying workloads for many employees, making it difficult for to increase work intensification even further. Decent, respectable work should focus on work-life balance, reducing workloads, and providing sufficient resources while engaging workers in direct discussions about their working preferences says Professor Paula Brough.