Former Labor ministers Mike Rann, Kevin Foley, Patrick Conlon and John Hill receive $700,000 pension

THE four men who defined a decade of Labor in power in South Australia will receive more than $707,000 each year in pension payments.

THE four men who defined a decade of Labor in power in South Australia will receive more than $707,000 each year in pension payments.

Mike Rann ($208,000), Kevin Foley ($200,000), Patrick Conlon ($151,000) and John Hill ($148,000) benefit from a parliamentary superannuation scheme that has since been watered down.

Mr Rann and Mr Foley retired from politics more than a year ago, while Mr Conlon and Mr Hill will retire at the 2014 election.

Their annual pensions are based on a formula taking into account their salary and length of service as ministers, committee members and backbenchers. If they pass away their spouses will be entitled to 75 per cent of the payment.

The generous superannuation scheme was in place as a way to attract talent to politics from high-paying jobs elsewhere and to compensate for the risk of unemployment following an election loss.

The scheme has been overhauled several times since the four were elected and incoming MPs now have a 15.4 per cent contribution scheme, compared with the wider community's 9 per cent.

Greens MP Mark Parnell said the old scheme was "overly generous" and added MPs' superannuation arrangements should be in line with the public service.

"There is an argument that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys but I think MPs are well paid and their super should reflect what the wider community gets," he said.

"When I was elected as part of the class of 2006 we were the first intake to have no super apart from the 9 per cent the rest of the community gets and I felt more than comfortable with that.

"Since then it has been bumped up to 15.4 per cent although the two Greens voted against it.

"I think the old scheme was probably overly generous and that MPs should lead by example.

"There is an argument that if you leave politics you may have limited career opportunities but you don't see too many ex-MPs with wooden bowls and signs saying, `Former MP, please give generously'," Mr Parnell said.

Mr Rann is now Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr Foley is a successful lobbyist, while Mr Conlon and Mr Hill will be on the backbench until they retire at the election.