Incoming governor-general Sam Mostyn will receive a more than $200,000 salary increase compared to her predecessor, after the Coalition backed Labor’s legislation to deliver a 43 per cent pay rise.
A Coalition partyroom spokeswoman confirmed the opposition would support the Governor-General Amendment (Salary) Bill 2024, despite insisting it was a “deep embarrassment for the government”.
“The governor-general starts the new gig on Monday and this has to be passed through parliament and given royal assent before then because this establishes the governor-general’s salary for the next five years. As a convention normally this is done much, much earlier,” the spokeswoman said.
Ms Mostyn will be paid $709,017 annually, up from $495k.
Labor introduced the legislation to replace the governor-general’s current salary of $495,000 a year with the higher figure of $709,017 on Monday.
The Albanese government has justified the generous salary increase on the compensation former army general David Hurley received because Ms Mostyn will not receive the same military pension as he did, resulting in the remunerations being “adjusted accordingly”.
