$1m jump: Massive amount paid to state government staffers
The state government is forking out hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra wages to the staff who work for the Premier and her ministers.
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The state government is forking out hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra wages to the staff who work for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her ministers.
In the last six months of 2022, the taxpayer funded salaries, superannuation and expenses of employees in ministerial offices reached $17.649m.
This was up more than 8 per cent – or over $1m – from the $16.278m spent on employee expenses during the same six month period in 2021.
In Ms Palaszczuk’s office, her staff were paid more than $3.6m in the second half of 2022 – up from $3.25m spent the same time the year before.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles’ staff were paid $1.304m between July and December last year, while Treasurer Cameron Dick’s staff were paid $1.088m.
The total bill for all expenses incurred by ministerial offices in the second half of last year – which includes wages, travel costs, and IT expenditure – was $26.451m.
This was 11.6 per cent more than the $23.7m spent during the same period in 2021 – and came amid a big increase in travel expenses with the reopening of borders.
Between July and December 2022, $1.333m was spent on domestic travel, $299,036 was spent on overseas travel, and “communication charges” came to $212,451.
A government spokesman said the increased costs related to “additional governance roles” as part of the government’s “commitment to ensuring transparency”.
Other costs included increased rent at 1 William Street, and 2.5 per cent wage increases in March and September which were in line with the core public service.
“Expenditure remains under budget,” the spokesman said.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli’s office expenses were also released this week – coming in at $1.792m for the six months between July and December last year.
But this was down from the $1.836m spent the same time the year prior.
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