Pollie pay outrage: secret salary rise for Victorian MPs

POLLIES have secretly pocketed a salary increase, worth at least $8000 for backbenchers and almost $19,000 for Premier Daniel Andrews.

Almost $19,000 will go to Premier ­Daniel Andrews. Picture: AAP

STATE politicians secretly pocketed a 5.3 per cent pay rise last year, worth more than $8400 to backbenchers and almost $19,000 to Premier ­Daniel Andrews.

The Sunday Herald Sun can exclusively reveal the whopping increase, which means the minimum salary for a politician is now $168,526.

Mr ­Andrews now receives $377,624. And for the first time, state ministers and Opposition Leader Matthew Guy are now paid more than $300,000 a year.

While pollies take home that extra money, Victoria’s lowest-paid workers were last year awarded a ­rise of 3.3 per cent — taking the minimum weekly wage to $694.90 before tax, compared to $3240 a week given to the lowest-paid state politician.

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Politicians secretly pocketed a 5.3 per cent pay rise last year. Picture: AAP

Some MPs say they were unaware of the size of the increase, which had been 2 per cent the previous year and is calculated using a formula created under law changes last term that both major parties backed.

The MPs’ windfall — amid soaring living costs for Victorians — comes as politicians prepare to again change the law on pay and entitlements and create an independent remuneration tribunal. That is likely to see their base salaries increase yet again, in ­return for scrapping murky entitlements that have been rorted.

But there will be no public scrutiny of MPs’ pay before the November state election, with the remuneration tribunal not able to table a decision until next year.

The Sunday Herald Sun can also ­reveal MPs have been quietly moaning about efforts to make their expenses more transparent, saying they are “unworkable” and force them to ­disclose too much information.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy is now paid more than $300,000 a year. Picture: AAP

The new laws strip MPs of the “second residence allowance”, rorted by former speaker Telmo Languiller and his deputy Don Nardella. They pocketed the allowance worth almost $40,000, meant for rural MPs who travel to the CBD for sitting days, by claiming to live in the country while representing suburban electorates.

But one MP said there were concerns about other changes, which would see MPs reimbursed for electorate allowance spending rather than be paid upfront.

The MP said that could ­affect privacy or a member’s ability to meet discreetly with constituents or stakeholders.

“Some aspects of this are pretty much unworkable,” the MP added.

The electorate allowance is worth between $39,000 and $45,000 a year, depending on the size of an MP’s seat.

For the first time, allowances claimed will also be published on the Parliament’s website every quarter.

Decisions will also be published, unlike the current practice which sees no public disclosure of wages and entitlements.

The Sunday Herald Sun ­discovered the recent pay ­increase as a result of changes to Australian Bureau of Statistics wage data in 2016. We obtained basic salaries and expense allowance information on Parliament’s intranet.

Andrews Government spokesman Chris Piper said: “The current pay and entitlements system is something we inherited from the former ­Liberal Government.”

“We’re changing it so MPs don’t set their own salaries ever again and they’re more accountable for the entitlements they receive”.