MINIMUM WAGES JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE
Parliament House, Friday 29 November 2024
Thank you once again all for attending this press conference. I will make a few remarks before passing on to the Chairwoman of the Minimum Wages Board
I am delighted to announce that the 2024 Minimum Wages Board has commenced its work to review minimum wages in Papua New Guinea. It is currently conducting hearings for Central Province, NCD and Gulf Province.
I am joined by Ms. Beverley Doiwa is the Chairwoman of the MWB. Beverley has a long and distinguished career in the Department of Labour and Industrial Relations and chaired the previous Minimum Wages Board. There are 8 members of the 2024 Minimum Wages Board comprise a group of distinguished and outstanding Papua New Guineans that bring skills, experience and deep knowledge that will assist the Board in its hearings and deliberations. Some of them are with us today:
- From the employers we have:
- Mrs. Florence Willie, the Executive Director, Employers Federation of Papua New Guinea; and Mr. Robert Nilkare, the Country Manager of New Britain Palm Oil Limited;
- From the unions we have:
- Mr. Anton Sekum, the Acting Assistant General Secretary of the Papua New Guinea Trade Union Congress and Mr Raphael Waiyalaka, the Vice President, Papua New Guinea Trade Union Congress
- From the government we have:
- Mr. William Hapipai, Acting Executive Manager, Industrial and Employment Conditions, Department of Personnel Management;
- Community Representatives we have:
- Mr. Bugave Kada, who is the Church Representative. He is a member of PNG Council of Churches’ Executive Board and Executive Officer of Lifeline Papua New Guinea; and we have Mr. Joe Itaki, the Director General, National Youth Development Authority as the Youth Rep.
The Government has approved a budget of K4.7 million for the MWB. This is based on a 100-day work plan for the establishment, appointment, and the conduct of the 2024 Minimum Wage Board Hearings. The Chairwoman will talk more about the work plan. The Treasurer has allocated an initial funding of K2.8 million and I thank him for this
Let me provide some quick comments on the context for the minimum wage review. We know Papua New Guinea faces considerable development challenges such as high population growth with a significant youth bulge, low labour productivity, high- cost structures and poor health and education outcomes. Together these have led to unequal opportunities for Papua New Guineans to participate in economic development and to benefit from economic growth.
Trend GDP growth over the period since the last minimum wage determination in 2014 to 2023 is estimated to be 2.4%. This has not kept pace with the NSO estimated population growth of 4.9% over the same period leading to a decline in real GDP per person and reduced living standards. So each year per capita income has declined by 2.5%.
Over the same period 2014-2023, prices, as measured by CPI inflation, has grown on average by 4.8% annually. This has resulted in purchasing power of minimum wage earners falling some 34% over this decade. To explain what this means a little more clearly, today we can only purchase 66% of the basket of goods and services that it could in 2014. Or yet again in different words what we bought for K66 in 2014 we would need K100 today to buy the same items. With the rising cost of living we are not insensitive to the struggles of our people and we especially recognize the considerable hardship borne by minimum wage earners and their distress.
Let me make it clear that the Government has not sought to make any unilateral decision on a new minimum wage rate. There is a process set out in law to review and set minimum wages. It will be the MWB that receives submissions and considers them and makes an informed decision about an appropriate level for minimum wages. It is the MWB’s decision or determination that will be presented to the Government within 4 months’ time.
Featured Image: An AI artistic representation of the concept of uplifting the minimum wage. The image symbolizes progress, fairness, and hope for workers.
