Chair of Victorian Remuneration Tribunal tribunal raking it in

The chair of the Victorian Remuneration Tribunal, which was established to provide independent advice on pay for MPs and senior public servants, is earning big bucks for his efforts.

The chair of the remuneration tribunal that decides what politicians get paid in Victoria earns $1217 a day.

Warren McCann, who has an extensive career in senior public service positions, is paid at the same rate as a non-judicial VCAT member.

The other two members of the tribunal, lawyer Jennifer Acton and former bureaucrat Barbara Belcher, are paid $1100 a day.

Warren McCann. Picture: Jo-Anna Robinson

The positions are part-time, meaning if Mr McCann was to work three days a week his salary would be about the same as a backbench MPs — who now pocket more than $180,000 a year.

The Victorian Remuneration Tribunal was established by the Andrews Government to provide independent advice on pay for MPs and senior public servants.

It sparked controversy this week when it revealed Premier Daniel Andrews would soon get a pay rise worth $46,522 a year, while ministers would get an extra $37,201.

The tribunal is now set to hand down a second report on Friday, which will set the pay rates for executives in the Victorian Public Service.

The Herald Sun revealed on Thursday that the tribunal’s first determination on pollie pay warned that sitting MPs on a defined benefits superannuation scheme could be in line for a massive cash grab due to their pension payments potentially being linked to rising backbench salaries.

Instead the pension rate was supposed to be linked to a lower “basic salary” rate.

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Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday this “unintended consequence” would be fixed to ensure there would be no “windfall gain”.

“There’s been a problem highlighted by the tribunal, the independent umpire, and we will take the necessary steps to deal with that,” he said.

Amid rising anger from public sector unions about the pay rises handed to Victorian MPs, Mr Andrews also said he was happy to sit down with union bosses to discuss the issue.

He said there were “clear pathways” to reach public sector workforce pay rises above 2 per cent a year if productivity improvements were made.

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