Premier forced to publicly reveal recipients of one-off payment
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had earlier this year refused to reveal publicly how many public servants she has paid a one-off $1250 bonus. But today, she was given no choice.
QLD News
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Annastacia Palaszczuk has been forced to publicly reveal how many public servants she’s paid a lucrative $1250 bonus to after making her infamous wage-freeze vow.
LNP MP David Batt had asked the Premier in April how many staff had received the one-off payment and how many were yet to pocket it in a question on notice to the parliament.
However the Premier refused to provide the figures, instead pointing to department annual reports which are usually tabled by September 30.
Mr Batt asked Speaker Curtis Pitt to intervene in May, arguing Ms Palaszczuk’s answer was not relevant.
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“The answer states that the requested information is published in various agencies’ annual reports,” he wrote.
“This is incorrect for two reasons: firstly the annual reports do not publish the date when the sign-on bonus was or will be paid.
“Secondly, the reports only publish an aggregate figure of remuneration paid and the pro-rata payments are not reported separately to allow a calculation of how many individuals received payments.”
The Premier today revealed that since April 22, “the $1250 payment has been made to a further 54 679.94 FTE eligible employees covered by 13 agreements where bargaining had not been finalised before the COVID-19 wage freeze, including frontline health workers.”
“Every public servant is subject to the twelve month pay freeze, as per the amendment to the legislation.”
This means 210,294.99 FTE public servants have now pocketed the payment.
It followed a shock announcement by Ms Palaszczuk in early April when she said the wages of public servants would be frozen immediately.
Unions slammed the Government for the proposed freeze, insisting certified agreements could not be unilaterally frozen.
The Government passed legislation in June deferring the pay rises from July 1 this year.
“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to delivering job security for government workers and honouring conditions negotiated as part of wage agreements while also delivering a one-year freeze to defer base wage increases during the 2020-21 financial year in response to the financial impacts from COVID-19,” Ms Palaszczuk wrote in her response to Mr Batt.
“These savings will ensure that the Queensland Government remains in a sound budget position to continue to provide job security for government workers while investing to support jobs in the broader economy.”
As of late last week, The Remuneration Tribunal was yet to make a decision around whether Queensland politicians would have their wages officially frozen as well.
Originally published as Premier forced to publicly reveal recipients of one-off payment