Coronavirus: ‘Strong’ support for pollie pay cuts

Baby Boomers and middle income families want politicians to take a 20 per cent pay cut, according to nationwide survey.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed calls for a politician pay cut. Picture: AAP

Baby Boomers and middle income families “strongly” want politicians to take a 20 per cent pay cut to share the pain caused by shutdowns, according to nationwide survey.

As millions of workers face the prospect of no job or reduced hours, almost three quarters of households agreed “strongly” or “somewhat” with the proposal “politicians and senior public servants who earn over $150,000 a year” should take a pay cut.

Conducted by polling firm Dynata for the Institute of Public Affairs, the results showed the strongest support for a cut among households earning between $45,000 and $75,000 a year (83 per cent in favour) and those where the head was aged over 65 (85 per cent in favour).

“If we are truly ‘all in this together’ then the economic and social pain must be shared around,” said Daniel Wild, Director of Research at the IPA. “Equality of sacrifice is required to get Australia through this unprecedented peacetime challenge,” he added.

In late March the federal government moved to defer the usual 2 per cent pay increase for MPs, senior civil servants, staffers and judges would receive on 1 July.

The Prime Minister has since dismissed further calls for pay cut, however. “They do a great job and they’re as much on the frontline saving people’s livelihoods frankly as nurses working in hospitals,” he said earlier this month.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cut the pay of her ministers and senior civil servants by 20 per cent in mid April. “If there was ever a time to close the gap between groups of people across New Zealand in different positions, it is now,” she said.

The survey, of over 1000 households across Australia, showed the weakest support for cutting pay came from respondents who earned above $200,000 a year (45 per cent were in favour), and from respondents aged 18 to 24 (63 per cent).

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman dismissed the PM’s argument public servants were “working hard”.

“Many of us have friends and loved ones who’ve lost their jobs or had income slashed by income by 40 or 50 per cent and they watch the TV each night being lectures by people who bear no pain,” he told The Australian. “I can assure you they’d prefer to be working a bit harder and still have their incomes,” he added.

10 per cent of respondents were opposed to the pay cut proposal.

The IPA estimates over 800,000 workers have lost their job in the private sector – “but the public sector remains untouched”.

“Federal public servants have on average 20 per cent higher wages than private sector workers in Australia. This is unacceptable in good times but unconscionable in the middle of economic and social Armageddon,” said Mr Wild.

“Reducing public sector pay is not aimed at punishing public servants but ensuring that they have skin in the game. For this reason, no public servant should receive a bonus until unemployment falls back below 5 per cent,” he added.

Labor senator Penny Wong said a pay cut wasn’t “something I’d take issue with” earlier this month.

Federal backbench MPs, ministers and public service chiefs are paid, respectively, around $250,000, $400,000 and $750,000 a year.