Newman government flags backflip on $57,000 pay rises for MPs after Premier's salary likened to US President Barack Obama

UPDATE: THE Newman Government has revealed plans to backflip on massive pay rises for MPs.

Protesters lampooned Premier Campbell Newman at a rally over pay rises in Brisbane on Monday.

THE Newman Government has revealed plans to backflip on massive pay rises for MPs.

Acting Premier Jeff Seeney today said the Government would reconsider the pay rises after the full extent of the increases was revealed.

The 41 per cent increase to the base pay of backbenchers will also flow on to the extra money received by all office bearers.

The increases would mean Premier Campbell Newman would receive almost $400,000, a similar amount to what US President Barack Obama is paid.

Mr Seeney said the Government had wanted to comply with the Parliament of Queensland Act and he still believed State MPs were worth as much as their federal counterparts.

However, he admitted he had been unaware increasing the pay scale of backbenchers would flow on to the extra pay of office holders and the Government would now consider options to change the Act.

"There is no doubt that something has to be done and the only place that can be done is in the Parliament,'' Mr Seeney said.

Earlier

OPPOSITION Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk has accused Campbell Newman of seeking to pay himself the same amount as the US President.

Newly published details of MP pay rises reveal the additional pay received by the premier will increase from $143,000 to $203,000.

This is on top of the $57,000 increase to the $137,000 base pay of all MPs, meaning the premier will be paid about $400,000, up from $280,000.

Ms Palaszczuk said the Premier's pay is outrageous and will rival US president Barack Obama.

"This is an arrogant government that has now proven itself completely out of touch," she said.

"While it refuses to grant minor increases to hard working public servants, each of its MPs will today be feeling like they have won the lottery."

Some MPs, from both the LNP and Labor, are now promising to give the extra money to their communities through a trust arrangement.

The news comes as Acting Premier Jeff Seeney distanced himself from Supreme Court action being taken by the State Government to stop public servants getting a small interim pay rise.

On ABC radio this morning, Mr Seeney said the legal action, which began just days after he announced MPs would pocket a $57,000 a year pay rise, was not something that involved Members of Parliament.

"As politicians we don't get involved in the industrial relations actions that are taken on by industrial relations' advocates," Mr Seeney told the ABC.

"Those actions are carried out by people such as the Public Service Commissioner. As you would expect, it would be quite wrong for MPs to be involved in those types of negotiations."

Mr Seeney said he was aware the Supreme Court action was being taken to challenge an Industrial Court ruling, which cleared the way for the Together Queensland union to apply to the QIRC for an interim pay rise for the 60,000-strong core public service.

"What our role is, is to make sure the laws are complied with, processes are done properly and we will make sure the laws are complied with, in relation to the Industrial Relations Commission," said the acting Premier.

Overnight, it was reported that Queensland MPs are set to lose the right to splurge their taxpayer-funded allowances on themselves.

Acting Premier Jeff Seeney yesterday revealed plans to introduce a new accountability regime for allowances which were worth up to $110,000 a year to state MPs.

The Newman Government has already halved the allowances in exchange for a controversial $57,000 increase to the base pay of MPs.

Options to ensure the remaining allowance money is expended on electoral purposes will now be considered with Clerk of Parliament Neil Laurie tasked with developing new arrangements.

Under the current system, the state's 89 MPs are paid an allowance and miscellaneous allowance in lump sums twice a year and are given "total discretion" over how the money is spent.

The rules, which were introduced by former premier Peter Beattie, mean MPs can simply pocket some or all of the cash as extra income after paying tax on the amount.

Mr Seeney yesterday condemned the current system of allowances, saying they had become a "defacto salary top-up" for some politicians.

"Ever since I have been in the Parliament people have talked about the requirement to do something about it,'' he said.

"Nobody has had the courage up until now.''

Mr Seeney said there was a "strong case" to retain a discretionary amount and avoid the reintroduction of a system of prescriptive individual allowances.

"We want something that is not administratively cumbersome but provides a degree of accountability that is not there at the moment and, to be frank, ensures that members spend it on what it's meant to be,'' he said.

One likely system to be considered would be an annual report on how each MP spent their allowances, similar to what occurs currently with ministerial office expenditure.

Mr Seeney insisted the $6 million cost of increasing the base pay for MPs would be cost neutral after cuts to allowances and payments to political parties.

However, this does not include adjustments to pensions of former politicians, which are tied to current salary rates, and any claims for back pay.

The decision to increase salaries came after legal advice indicated the Government was in breach of the Parliament of Queensland Act because MPs should be paid at a rate of $500 less a year than their federal counterpart.

The anomaly occurred after the former Labor government froze the pay of MPs but did not change the act.

However, the Newman Government has been criticised for approving the massive pay increase rather than changing the legislation amid an ongoing brawl with public service unions over stalled wage negotiations.

Queensland Council of Unions president John Battams yesterday led a protest outside the Government's headquarters after it was revealed the State had launched Supreme Court action to block an interim 2.2 per cent pay rise for public servants.

He accused the LNP of gross hypocrisy and called on the Government to recall Parliament and change the law to block the $57,000 increase.

"While offering their own employees an increase of a little over 2 per cent, they want to pay themselves an extra 42 per cent," Mr Battams said.

Mr Battams vowed to make the pay rise an election issue.

Together Secretary Alex Scott said more than 10,000 people had signed an online petition against the MP pay bump since it was launched last week.

"We will be campaigning in the lead up to the next sitting of Parliament to make sure we can build enough community support to force politicians to override this obscene pay rise through a legislative response," he said.

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