Yahoo Finance $607,500: Outrage over Albanese’s huge pay rise as Aussies 'struggle to survive'
Federal politicians will see their pay rise by 3.5 per cent on July 1, following a ruling by the independent Remuneration Tribunal.
Federal politicians and the country's top public servants will pocket their second-biggest pay rise in the last decade. One department head's salary will hit more than $1 million, sparking outrage from Australians struggling through the current cost-of-living crisis.
The independent Remuneration Tribunal ruled this week that federal MPs would see their salaries grow by 3.5 per cent on July 1. This would bring Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s base salary to $607,500, an increase of $21,000.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton will receive a salary of $432,250 thanks to the pay rise, which is an extra $15,000. The base salary of an MP will increase to $233,650, up an extra $8,000.
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The decision also covers secretaries and other public offices within the tribunal’s jurisdiction.
The head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Glyn Davis, will earn more than $1 million a year after the pay bump, with his salary increasing by a whopping $34,000 a year.
For comparison, the median wage for a full-time worker is $1,300 per week (before tax) which is about $67,600 annually, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The Australian Taxation Office recently revealed the highest-paying jobs in the country, with the top salary coming in at $460,356.
'Astronomical' pay rises 'not deserved' in cost-of-living crisis
The announcement has made some hot under the collar, with some claiming Australians should be “up in arms” over the decision.
Former carer and now CEO of Queensland aged care service Together We Care Jay Richters shared his outrage over the pay rises online, particularly in regards to Davis’ hefty wage jump.
“There are people who are getting $33,000 pay rises this year. I’m sorry, we have a cost-of-living crisis. People can’t even afford to eat or house themselves,” Richters said.
“That is just putrid, absolutely putrid. We should all be up in arms. We should all be writing to our minister and saying this is disgusting.
“I don’t know anyone that deserves a $33,000 pay rise in a 12-month period. There is no way that those public servants are doing $33,000 worth of more work.”
Rach McQueen, who runs the popular TikTok ‘Real estate with Rachel’, said the pay rises were a “joke” and argued Albanese and Dutton in particular “don’t deserve” it.
“That is an astronomical amount of money for people who are in the public service to be earning, particularly considering they also receive allowances and a bunch of free shit," McQueen said.
She's a tenant's advocate with ShitRentals and pointed out most are landlords, who may be profiting while many can not afford housing or turn on their heaters in winter.
“Their salaries should not be this big to begin with," she said.
"People are starving, people cannot afford to feed their children."
Most Aussies in the video comments seemed to agree with the sentiment, with many pointing out that some everyday Aussies were “struggling to live”.
“Politicians should be paid the minimum wage, watch how fast they start caring about the cost of living,” one user said.
It wasn't all negative though. Some defended the pay bumps.
“Certain government jobs should come with a high salary. We want to attract good candidates and prevent them from gaming the system," they said.
Despite the pay rise, Albanese still lags behind some of his international peers.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is by far the highest-paid politician in the world, earning about $2.5 million a year.
Switzerland’s Viola Amherd is the second-highest paid, earning $823,000 as president.
How was the pay rise amount decided?
The Remuneration Tribunal said it considered factors like the recent decision by the Fair Work Commission to raise the minimum wage by 3.75 per cent from July when coming to its decision.
It also noted the annual wage price index rose 3.8 per cent in the public sector, 4.1 per cent in the private sector and 4.1 per cent overall in March.
It noted that politicians’ pay rises in the past decade had been “modest”.
This year’s pay rise comes on top of a 4 per cent pay rise delivered in September 2023. Prior to that, federal politicians received a 2.75 per cent increase in 2022 and no pay increase in 2020 and 2021.
Cumulatively, they have received 18.25 per cent in increases since 2015, which is lower than the 24.4 per cent seen in the public and private sectors over that period.
The 3.5 per cent pay rise also represents a pay cut in real terms, given inflation over the year to March rose 3.6 per cent.
The tribunal said its “primary focus” in determining remuneration was “to provide competitive and equitable remuneration that is appropriate to the responsibilities and experience required of the roles”, and “sufficient to attract and retain people of calibre”.
“Many of these office holders do not expect or require that monetary compensation for their roles in the public sector be set at private sector levels,” it said.
“Rather, office holders serve for the public good and the opportunity to influence economic and social policy initiatives.”
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