THE LIE
The Australian 12 May 2014:
FEDERAL MPs were in line for a pay rise that could have given them 10 times the amount they paid under the deficit levy — before the last-minute decision by Tony Abbott to freeze their wages.
The one-year freeze will also apply to senior public servants, the heads of government agencies and judges.
The Remuneration Tribunal will meet today in Sydney where it had been due to decide its annual adjustment of politicians’ pay, which must be announced by June 18….
Mr Abbott decided it would not match his belief that “everyone” should make a contribution to repair the budget if MPs and ministers were “better off”.
Last Wednesday, Mr Abbott promised the budget would be fair, saying: “I’m going to be able to look people in the eye on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning and beyond and say, ‘We are all in this together, we are all doing our bit’.”
On the same day, Public Service Minister Eric Abetz was directed to write to the tribunal asking it to freeze pay and to not calculate a rise that would be passed on at a later date. The tribunal received the twin requests on Friday.
Despite being given the power two years ago to make pay decisions independent of politics, the three-person tribunal is expected to agree to both requests today.
THE FACTS
On 13 June 2013 the independent Remuneration Tribunal announced a 2.4 per cent increase in the pay rates of the most senior offices in the public service, parliamentarians, Secretaries, numerous part-time offices and the federal judiciary - effective 1 July 2013.
In September 2013 the Tribunal announced that the Australian prime minister and federal government ministers would receive no additional salary increases above that flowing on from this increase in parliamentarians’ base pay rate.
On 9 December 2013 the Tribunal issued a statement that it had determined not to further raise the salaries of federal parliamentarians and, on 12 May 2014 issued another statement confirming that it had decided in April 2014 not to increase the pay rates of senators and members of parliament before 1 July 2015:
For some months, noting the Government’s policy, it has been evident that any wages movement in the APS and federal public sector would be restrained. Indeed, at its April meeting, the Tribunal’s preliminary conclusion was that it would determine no annual review increase for offices in its jurisdiction from 1 July 2014….
The Tribunal determines remuneration for a wide range of the most senior full-time and part-time public offices, including the federal judiciary, and federal parliamentarians….
In 2011 and 2012, the Tribunal determined increases in remuneration for offices in its jurisdiction of 3%, with a 2.4% increase in 2013. Each of these decisions took effect on 1 July in the relevant year. When the Tribunal made its 2013 decision, it stated that it intended to review the decision towards the end of 2013 to see if any further adjustment was justified. The Tribunal did reconsider the matter late in 2013, and decided that the economic indicators at that time did not justify any further adjustment to remuneration.
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