"Abbott put a freeze on parliamentary salaries I think."
No, he did not. What he did was to delay the pay rise by one year.
I mentioned this a few times before in the past, but no one seemed to have picked up the significance of this change: the law governing federal politicians, judges, and public servants was amended a few years ago, now any payrise proposed by the Remuneration Tribunal would be implemented automatically, parliament now cannot amend the % increase proposed, and there is now no need for the parliament to debate the payrise on whether to accept it or reject it or amend it which it could in the past.
Guess which government introduced this change ? It was the Gillard Labr government but with support from the Abbott-led Opposition. A clear case of parliamentarians looking after their own interests.
Also, the Tribunal's deliberations of any pay increases are in closed sessions, viz. they are not public hearings.
