Terry Davis, the chief of Coca-Cola Amatil, has criticised weekend penalty rates in an interview with The Australian.
Davis also suggested that the mining boom’s benefits had been squandered and productivity needs to be addressed.
“Productivity has fallen behind — there's not been any marked improvement in productivity in Australia in the last 10 years,” said Davis.
“Penalty rates on Sunday are crazy, especially for quick-service restaurants, hotels and cafes — all this does is push up costs and, ultimately, prices paid by consumers.”
Davis’s’ comments come during a week in which industrial relations have been prominent, following leaked comments by former Prime Minister John Howard to a Westpac forum suggesting IR needed to be changed.
Elswhere, independent Senator Nick Xenophon has proposed scrapping penalty rates for small businesses in hospitality and retail and Unions WA has called for weekend penalty rates to be protected as the state begins Sunday trading.