Gladys Berejiklian gives Damien Tudehope $17k pay rise
Public sector workers including teachers and nurses have had their pay frozen but that hasn’t stopped Premier Gladys Berejiklian quietly ordering a major, permanent pay rise to one of her ministers.
NSW
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Premier Gladys Berejiklian has quietly handed a permanent $17,000 pay rise to one of her ministers despite freezing the pay of nurses, teachers and other public sector workers.
Ms Berejiklian alerted the clerk of parliament on Friday that she had designated Finance Minister Damien Tudehope as a “senior minister”, which increases ministerial pay from $309,621 to $326,541.
In doing so, she has swelled the ranks of her “senior ministers”, adding one more to the highly paid group.
The Premier did not announce the permanent pay increase or the new designation of “senior minister” publicly, but informed the clerk of the parliament and upper house president John Ajaka in writing.
It was only in May that Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said it did not make sense for politicians to accept a pay rise, saying at the time: “It doesn’t make any sense for a politician or staffer to take a pay rise in the current environment, with so many people out of work and household incomes in decline.”
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Labor’s shadow finance minister Daniel Mookhey slammed the decision, saying: “the Finance Minister is forcing 400,000 families to take a pay cut. But he gets a pay rise. How is that fair?”
“A hospital cleaner deserves this $16,920 more than Damien Tudehope. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pick up the tab for Ms Berejiklian’s factional deals.”
Mr Tudehope filled in as leader of the government in the upper house for Don Harwin when he was stood aside over travelling while the state was in coronavirus lockdown and impressed his colleagues with his work ethic and relationships with the cross bench.
He briefly received an even higher pay – an annual rate of $345,000 while he was acting for Mr Harwin, but Mr Harwin has now been reinstated as “leader of the government” in the upper house, which would have seen Mr Tudehope return to the base junior ministerial salary of $309,621.
Mr Tudehope has been made “leader of government business” in the upper house – a role that of its self does not automatically lead to more pay.
This role was previously held by centre-right Liberal MP Scott Farlow, who has been dropped from the position.
Stunned government MPs believe the deal was also a bid to keep factional tensions at bay after the Premier reinstated her friend and moderate powerbroker Mr Harwin to the cabinet.
Mr Tudehope is well respected by his colleagues and the cross bench and considered to be an effective operator and hard worker, but still MPs are of the view that a pay rise was a bad look.
On Friday, when Ms Berejiklian announced Mr Harwin would return as leader of the government in the upper house, One Nation MP Mark Latham took to Twitter praising Mr Tudehope.
“Plain wrong that Damien Tudehope has been dumped as Leader of the Government in NSW upper house for the returning Don Harwin (who the NSW Police still say broke health orders,” he said.
“Tudehope was outstanding in all aspects of chamber management and deserved to hold his position on merit.”
Mr Tudehope had formed close relationships with the cross bench and was widely regarded as working more effectively with them than Mr Harwin could.
The Daily Telegraph has been told that the pay boost for Mr Tudehope is still a “net negative” for taxpayers, because stood aside Minister John Sidoti is not accepting his ministerial salary and Mr Harwin did not accept his large salary for several months.