NT public servants best paid in the nation, new data shows, as government continues to defend proposed four year wage freeze

THE NT’s public servants are the best paid in Australia, earning $15,000 more per year than the national average, new data has revealed.

THE NT’s public servants are the best paid in Australia, earning $15,000 more per year than the national average, new data has revealed.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data, released yesterday, comes as the NT government continued to defend its budget repair policy of freezing public service wages for four years.

A Territory public servant, on average, is paid an annual wage of $100,704, while the national average is $85,871.

The lowest paid public servants are in Tasmania, where the average annual wage is $80,031.

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Economist Saul Eslake said NT public servants were better paid partly because the government needed to lure them to the Territory where the cost of living was higher.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner, handing down his first budget as Treasurer this week, caught the unions off guard with his plan to freeze public service wages for four years, while offering a $1000 annual bonus to those that had been continuously employed from a certain date.

The wages policy, which goes further than the Langoulant budget repair report proposal to scrap 2 per cent a year pay rises in lieu of a $1000 wage increase, is expected to save the government $424m by mid-2025.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles, out yesterday selling the government’s budget, said the measures were designed to “keep people in jobs”.

“Of course (the unions) would like to see pay rises for employees, but the reality is we have a limited budget,” she said. Unions, including the Electrical Trades Union, have been scathing of the policy, describing it as a “kick in the guts” and a “betrayal”.

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The New South Wales budget, due to be handed down next week, will also include a public service wage measure, with salaries to increase by 1.5 per cent instead of 2.5 per cent a year.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the government wanted to “keep as many people in work during this period of time, and we think this decision strikes a fair balance”.