UNIONS ACT Secretary Alex White is campaigning to retain penalty rates with new polling showing Canberrans support them.

“Australians have been subjected to a false and misleading campaign by the business lobby and the Liberal party about penalty rates,” Alex said.

“Despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary, business lobbyists like Kate Carnell continue to repeat falsehoods about penalty rates to try to make the case for cuts to wages.

“The truth is that penalty rates are an important part of Australian society, and eight in ten Canberrans support penalty rates.

“When business lobbyists call for cuts to penalty rates, they are asking people who are paid the least in our community to give up the most.

“Cutting penalty rates have nothing to do creating jobs or increasing productivity – it is simply about cutting the take-home pay of everyday working people.”