Qld politicians get a 35% pay rise

Completely irrelevant. Politicians earn way more than PS in Qld, which is where I am and where the current outrage over large pay hikes is centred. I don't care about what happens in Canberra.

No way are politicians "on incomes very much in line with public servant pay scales".
 
Completely irrelevant. Politicians earn way more than PS in Qld, which is where I am and where the current outrage over large pay hikes is centred. I don't care about what happens in Canberra.

@ Tigger

Then perhaps you shouldn't have commented on my post.

The point is that it seems that politicians (be they in Canberra or Brisbane - and I suspect the pattern will emerge elsewhere) tend to be well paid.

With or without a 35% pay rise in Qld.
 
Completely irrelevant. Politicians earn way more than PS in Qld, which is where I am and where the current outrage over large pay hikes is centred. I don't care about what happens in Canberra.

No way are politicians "on incomes very much in line with public servant pay scales".


I haven't looked up the upper incomes of the various professional awards in QLD -the vast majority of politicians would have degrees- but I somehow don't think many at all would be on 100K tops.

It's only those politicials who have no tertiary qualifications who would be raking it in at 133K pa.
 
MarkB, I was replying to Weg who wrote

"So lets try and put this into perspective... state premiers across the country are only earning the equivalent to Band 2 to Band 3. The vast majority of the politicians beneath them are earning salaries on par with thousands of other public servants who are in the lower bands.

If anything they're on incomes very much in line with public servant pay scales.

My own government workplace of around 90 people consists of around 90% of staff earning between 90K to 500K."

Yes let's put this into perspective.

Figures approximate, without allowances and gross of tax.

Our local councillor gets 95,000 per year. Our state rep?s base salary is 149,000 per year while our fed rep?s base salary is 195,000.

An admin officer level 2 gets 49,000 (eg Title office admin) while an admin at level 4 gets 68,000 (Titles supervisor). A professional officer level 3 (eg the guys who maintain the digital cadastral database) get about 76,000 while their supervisor gets about 88,000.

I still don't see how politicians are "on incomes very much in line with public servant pay scales". Never mind the top earners, they are statistical outliers; look instead at the bulk of them and compare pollie vs worker. And of course the % hike.
 
MarkB, I was replying to Weg who wrote

"So lets try and put this into perspective... state premiers across the country are only earning the equivalent to Band 2 to Band 3. The vast majority of the politicians beneath them are earning salaries on par with thousands of other public servants who are in the lower bands.

If anything they're on incomes very much in line with public servant pay scales.

My own government workplace of around 90 people consists of around 90% of staff earning between 90K to 500K."

Yes let's put this into perspective.

Figures approximate, without allowances and gross of tax.

Our local councillor gets 95,000 per year. Our state rep?s base salary is 149,000 per year while our fed rep?s base salary is 195,000.

An admin officer level 2 gets 49,000 (eg Title office admin) while an admin at level 4 gets 68,000 (Titles supervisor). A professional officer level 3 (eg the guys who maintain the digital cadastral database) get about 76,000 while their supervisor gets about 88,000.

I still don't see how politicians are "on incomes very much in line with public servant pay scales". Never mind the top earners, they are statistical outliers; look instead at the bulk of them and compare pollie vs worker. And of course the % hike.
I think Weg is on the money. Politicians wages are clearly in line with comparable public servants and in many cases much less. Comparing with Admin staff is pointless.
 
I still don't see how politicians are "on incomes very much in line with public servant pay scales". Never mind the top earners, they are statistical outliers; look instead at the bulk of them and compare pollie vs worker. And of course the % hike.

But politicians ARE outliers....how many members of parliament do you see versus your run of the mill public servant in admin???
 
I've no issue with politicians being paid well as this is what lowers the incentive for corruption which is a far bigger evil.

I think politicians should be paid $5 million per annum so that we can guarantee no corruption occurs.
 
Never mind the top earners, they are statistical outliers

Tigger, QLD employs 2400 chief and senior executives in their PS.

Like i stated in another post, many of my PS colleagues earn what a backbencher earns (mostly before the rise with some after). Others I work with earn what a state premier earns, with one earning closer to what Abbott earns.

View attachment SES.pdf
 
Our local councillor gets 95,000 per year. Our state rep?s base salary is 149,000 per year while our fed rep?s base salary is 195,000.

Your local councillor represents 3,000 to 4,000 constituents.....about $ 23 per person per annum.

Your state member represents 22,000 to 24,000 constituents.....about $ 6 per person per annum.

Your federal member represents 95,000 to 105,000 constituents......about $ 2 per person per annum.
 
Your local councillor represents 3,000 to 4,000 constituents.....about $ 23 per person per annum.

Your state member represents 22,000 to 24,000 constituents.....about $ 6 per person per annum.

Your federal member represents 95,000 to 105,000 constituents......about $ 2 per person per annum.

Economy of scale.
 
Your local councillor represents 3,000 to 4,000 constituents.....about $ 23 per person per annum.

Your state member represents 22,000 to 24,000 constituents.....about $ 6 per person per annum.

Your federal member represents 95,000 to 105,000 constituents......about $ 2 per person per annum.

Hey Dazz, I don't think it's much of a stretch to claim that a Federal politician wields much more than 12 times the power and influence of a local council member. After all, that the real reason people get into politics - for the power, not the money.
 
Hard to compare oranges and pears.

Local councils are soooo different to Federal parliament it's not funny. They obviously concern themselves with very different things. You'll never hear a discussion on defence matters at your local council meetings. Maintenance of footpaths and bus shelters will rarely come up in a Senate estimates committee hearing.

I also agree that the vast majority of politicians who get elected, their salary is not the main motivation. I reckon that would go for all sides of politics.

When speaking to all sides of politics, it is as plain as nose on your face that they are there to contribute to the community they represent, and see policies implemented that they personally agree with.

The vast majority of candidates realise that "going it alone" as an independent is nigh on impossible, save for a few very rare exceptions.....and hence they align themselves with the political party that most closely aligns with their personal philosophy.

Let's face it, if you don't get elected, it doesn't matter how good you think your policies are, if you're not there, you're not there !!

That doesn't mean that every member of every party agrees 100% of the time with 100% of the party's policies throughout the years.......but it does mean that if you are standing for election as the party's representative.....and you are elected, it is expected that you support those party policies that were presented to the electorate prior to the election on the parliament floor when the serious business of voting on bills takes place. That only makes sense.
 
Local councillors dont earn anywhere near the amounts being quoted. Most councillors earn a minimal amount in the range of $20k or less - most have full time jobs. The Mayor, however, is on $100k or more depending on where the council is. Some larger councils such as Brisbane City Council, the Mayor has a substantial salary.


I think politicians are vastly underpaid for the jobs they do and the level of responsibility they have. I wouldn't be a minister if you paid me millions.
 
Wow Weg, how do I get a job at your place? There are about 150 people working where I do, and I just worked out that four of them would earn more than $90K.
 
Wow Weg, how do I get a job at your place? There are about 150 people working where I do, and I just worked out that four of them would earn more than $90K.

The workplace is only unusual because almost everyone has a degree, have raked up many years of service, with the majority of staff upgraded to higher classification levels than the roles would normally command (don't understand why this was funded but staff were encouraged to apply for the higher levels).

Out of the 90 or so staff there are only about 2 fulltime general office staff, 2 PA's, and a handful of ancillary staff.
 
Last edited:
Local councillors dont earn anywhere near the amounts being quoted. Most councillors earn a minimal amount in the range of $20k or less - most have full time jobs. The Mayor, however, is on $100k or more depending on where the council is. Some larger councils such as Brisbane City Council, the Mayor has a substantial salary.


I think politicians are vastly underpaid for the jobs they do and the level of responsibility they have. I wouldn't be a minister if you paid me millions.

Base pay of a councillor in my region is 125k and the Mayor is 205k. That is Moreton Bay. Pretty much the same for all the other SEQ councils. Here they all are for Qld. Where they are full time jobs, they get full time pay.
http://www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/resources/report/local-government/full-report-2013.pdf
 
Back
Top