Palaszczuk government’s ministerial staff wages grow by hundreds of thousands

Ministerial staff wages in the Palaszczuk government have ballooned by hundreds of thousands of dollars, as new figures reveal the biggest spending ministerial offices. See the list.

Jack McKaySTATE POLITICAL REPORTER

less than 2 min read

March 16, 2022 - 5:13PM

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Ministerial staff wages in the Palaszczuk government have ballooned by hundreds of thousands of dollars, as new figures reveal the biggest spending ministerial offices.

In the six months to December 31, taxpayers forked out $16.27m on salaries and “related payments” for ministerial offices – up 4.45 per cent from the $15.58m spent during the same period the year before.

Total costs across all ministerial offices during the six month period reached $23.7m, which was only about $77,000 more than what was spent between July and December 2020.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s ministerial office expenses reached $4.13m in the six months to December 31. Picture: Liam Kidston

This included $290,000 spent on motor vehicle running costs, $683,000 on domestic travel, $4.02m on building services, and $1.78m on information technology.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s office expenses reached $4.13m, which included $3.25m on wages and expenses for her staff – and came as she dropped the trade portfolio and became Olympics Minister.

Expenses for Deputy Premier Steven Miles’s office came in at $1.7m during the six month period, while the expenses for Treasurer Cameron Dick’s office was about $1.38m.

Treasurer Cameron Dick. Picture: Liam Kidston

The ministerial office expenses of Education Minister Grace Grace, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath, Transport Minister Mark Bailey, and Energy Minister Mick de Brenni were all more than $1m.

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman and Police Minister Mark Ryan’s office expenses also exceeded $1m, while the remaining Cabinet Ministers had office expenses that ranged between $815,000 and $993,000.