Federal government fat cats awarded pay rises up to $40k a year

HAND-PICKED senior government fat cats are enjoying average annual pay rises of up to $40,000, with some paid almost $1m a year.

SENIOR government fat cats have been awarded average pay rises of up to $40,000 a year for the past 10 years with top public service mandarins now on pay packets edging toward $1 million a year.

While wages growth for ordinary workers has flatlined, the salaries for top departmental secretaries have soared by up to 40 per cent since 2012.

An analysis of Remuneration Tribunal pay deals for senior bureaucrats reveal the cumulative taxpayer-funded pay-rises for government’s senior executive over the decade came to almost 70 per cent — far outstripping average private sector wage earnings in the same period.

The most recent pay rises, totalling $240,000 over the past four years for the top rungs, had been awarded despite a decline in public sector productivity and with the budget facing perpetual deficit.

Annual reports show that in 2006, the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet was paid $504,900.

This pay point rose largely in line with average wage growth to reach $620,000 a year in 2012 before “catch-up” pay deals were locked in by the remuneration tribunal under the Gillard government.

In the wake of the global financial crisis, top bureaucrat’s salary went from $620,000 a year to $825,000 a year in the space of two years.

A further pay deal last January has pushed the top paid bureaucrat’s salary to $861,000 a year — before other perks.

Former NSW Treasurer Michael Costa this week railed against the explosion in public sector wages when public services weren’t improving.

Former minister Michael Costa has criticised the wage rises.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s cabinet are on a motza.

“There are two factors underlying the explosion in public sector costs. One is the extraordinary salaries paid to senior bureaucrats well in excess of market standards,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“The other is the continued failure of the public sector to increase its productivity despite claims that increased wages would lead to better outcomes for the public.”

The pay rises are not restricted to the government’s chief departments. All department secretaries have received hefty pay-rises.

Martin Parkinson, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, earns $861,700 per year.

ohn Fraser, Commonwealth Treasury Secretary, earns $840,810 per year.

Dennis Richardson, Secretary of the Department of Defence, is on $814,700 per year.

Level One department secretaries, which include the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Health and Social Services, now earn up to $814,000 after earning $612,500 in March 2012.

Level Two department secretaries — which include the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Education and Training and Agriculture — now earn up to $731,140, up from $575,000 in March 2012.

The Coalition has succeeded in cutting overall public service numbers back from a peak of 182,505 in 2012 to 2006 levels of 167,000.

But influential Senator Nick Xenophon, who will determine whether controversial government bills are blocked or become law, said taxpayers were paying fewer bureaucrats more to do less.

Senator Nick Xenophon says we’re paying fewer bureaucrats more to do less / Picture: Kym Smith