Nearly a dozen federal public servants were paid more than $1m last year, with one receiving a $1.5m package worth more than double Anthony Albanese’s base salary. The generous remuneration – which includes bonuses and allowances – has been criticised as insulting during a cost-of-living crisis and amid job cuts across the public service. The 11 staff are employed by Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, and have direct oversight and responsibility for its investments, worth $350bn.
One Future Fund manager employed at an “executive level 2” rank was paid $1.5m of taxpayer money last year, which is significantly more than the prime minister’s $622,000 salary. All 11 staff are paid more than federal cabinet ministers and all but one department secretary, including the heads of Australia’s domestic intelligence agency and the federal police. Their pay emerged after Greens senator Barbara Pocock asked the minister for the public service, Katy Gallagher, to justify the high remuneration in a question on notice in August.
A response from Gallagher’s office, tabled in parliament this week, said the fund operated in a “highly competitive global market” and the generous wages were needed to attract the best possible talent. In the private sector, senior managers at major Australian banks commonly receive annual bonuses of more than $1m. But these salaries remain controversial with shareholders.
The spokesperson said the salaries were within government rules that state performance bonuses can only be used in limited circumstances. We’re not talking about secretaries running government departments but employees. How can the government justify this?” It comes amid budget pressures that last month resulted in the National Disability Insurance Agency announcing voluntary redundancies for the first time since its 2013 creation.
Several other government departments have also announced job cuts in recent months, including in the prime minister’s own department, home affairs and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. In December, the Future Fund was criticised for spending $20,000 to send the chief executive’s then-assistanct on a scoping trop to assess hotels in the US and negotiate rates. The fund told a Senate estimates hearing the trip led to annual savings of $30,000.
The executive assistant and another person flew business class to the US.
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