well turnbull is back in action again
as most people thought he was doing nothing except hiding out of the public spotlight
and what a way to start
(remember the bull dust the liberal party told the aged pensioners
about debt........ well that must have been a cold hard lie )
PM Malcolm Turnbull increases salary of ministerial staff
Renee Viellaris, Federal Political Editor, The Courier-Mail
January 15, 2018 8:00pm
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has personally approved almost $1 million in pay top-ups for senior staff, including those who work for him, boosting some staffer salaries above the pay of a backbencher.
The Prime Minister has exercised his power under MOPS, the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act, to grant up to 30 ministerial staff higher pay than under the enterprise agreement.
It puts the staffers above the range in their band, at a time when Australians are struggling with the lowest wage growth on record and facing significant cost-of-living pressures.
Under their workplace agreement, government staffers can be paid a maximum salary of $259,000, which is already well above the $203,000 wage of most federal MPs.
But Mr Turnbull has used a special power in the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 to hand an average of $28,000 each to the 30 staffers, leaving taxpayers to foot an $840,000 bill.
Nick Xenophon Team Leader Nick Xenophon questioned why there was secrecy around paid political advisers and called for accountability.
“If staff are paid above the band than the Government needs to go above and beyond to be transparent about it,’’ Mr Xenophon said. “If we are talking about salaries that are more than an elected Member of Parliament, then it should be transparent.”
But Mr Turnbull’s office and his Government, which is demanding the ABC disclose the salary of its highly-paid reporters, are refusing to identify the staff members and how much extra they are being paid.
