David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

In most years, Senator Bob Brown seeks to run this sort of argument after a Remuneration Tribunal review. We have come to expect this rhetoric and shallow grandstanding from Senator Brown. As the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate indicated, it is about Senator Brown getting publicity and attempting to stay at the forefront of people’s minds. It is a bit shallow, really. Since 1999, the base parliamentary salary for all senators and members has been linked by regulation to a salary determined by the Remuneration Tribunal, an independent statutory body that determines remuneration and related matters for key Australian government officers, not just parliamentarians. As a result of this legislative link, the base salary is adjusted automatically in line with the relevant Remuneration Tribunal decision, usually on 1 July each year.

The salary for members of parliament has been set at the A level, which happens to be the lowest level of the principal executive officer salary band. Obviously, being a parliamentarian is not about the money. To the best of my knowledge and understanding, nobody aspires to parliament because ‘the money is so good’; they do it for other reasons. As I said, level A is the lowest level of the principal executive officer salary band—and this is the salary band for senior public servants. The new base salary will be $127,060. The pay rise comprises two elements: firstly, an increase of 2.5 per cent as a result of the restructure of the principal executive officer salary band outlined in determination 2007/04; and a further increase of 4.2 per cent as a result of the annual remuneration adjustment outlined in determination 2007/08. The first component is a catch-up clause which reflects a disparity between the benchmark and actual wage movements in the senior ranks of the Public Service. The second component is the annual review of salary.

In undertaking its annual review and deciding on appropriate adjustments, the Remuneration Tribunal takes into account a range of factors—none of which are the views of parliamentarians! More seriously, I am advised that, if this disallowance motion were to be passed today, it would have a flow-on effect to all public servants at the principal executive officer salary band. This would deny a wage increase to the following people: the General Manager of Aboriginal Hostels Ltd; the General Manager of the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency; the Managing Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; the General Manager of the Australia Council for the Arts; the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Film Commission; the Director of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School; the Principal of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies; the Director of the Australian Institute of Marine Science; the Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia; the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation; the Director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency; the Chair of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority; the General Manager of Indigenous Business Australia; the General Manager of the Indigenous Land Corporation; the Director-General of the National Library of Australia; the Director of National Parks Australia; the Renewable Energy Regulator; the Managing Director of the Special Broadcasting Service; and the General Manager of the Torres Strait Regional Authority—to name but a few. Obviously, the government will oppose this motion.