Malcolm Fraser's (Unsuccessful) 1977 Voluntary Wages and Prices Freeze

Abstract

At the April 1977 Premiers' Conference Malcolm Fraser secured unanimous agreement from the premiers to call for a voluntary three-month freeze of wages and prices. The freeze was never implemented. It offrcially ended in May when the Arbitration Commission awarded a national wage case increase of 1.9 per cent in line with its wage indexation principles. This paper examines the economic and political context in which the Premiers' Conference took place, the interactions between the federal government and unions—particularly the role played by ACTU President Bob Hawke—and the Arbitration Commission's reasons for rejecting the wages side of the freeze.