As a self-funded retiree, I’m frustrated with Canberra’s continuous fiddle with superannuation. So here's fair warning to all politicians of any persuasion that this group of aged voters may be about to make the greatest impact on any Federal election in history. Ignoring them may be the start of a changed political environment in this country.
I absolutely agree that if a pension isn't an entitlement then neither is theirs. They keep telling us that paying us an aged pension isn't sustainable. Paying politicians all the perks they get is even less sustainable! The politicians themselves brought it up, saying that the Age of Entitlements is over.
The author, Dr. Dale Kerwin of the School of Education on the Mt. Gravatt Campus of Grifffith University, is asking each of us to forward this message to a minimum of twenty people on our address list; in turn, ask each of those to do likewise. In a few days, most people in Australia will have this message. This is one idea that really should be passed around because the rot has to stop somewhere.
Here are the proposals to make politicians shoulder their share of the weight now that the Age of Entitlement is over:
1. Scrap political pensions.
Politicians can purchase their own retirement plan, just as most other working Australians are expected to do. Read more here.
2. Retired politicians (past, present & future) participate in Centrelink.
A Politician collects a substantial salary while in office but should receive no salary when they're out of office. Terminated politicians under 70 can go get a job or apply for Centrelink unemployment benefits like ordinary Australians. Terminated politicians under 70 can negotiate with Centrelink like the rest of the Australian people.
3. Funds already allocated to the Politicians' retirement fund be returned immediately to Consolidated Revenue.
This money is to be used to pay down debt they created which they expect us and our grandchildren to repay for them.
4. Politicians will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Politicians pay will rise by the lower of, either the CPI or 3%.
5. Politicians lose their privileged health care system and participate in the same health care system as ordinary Australian people.
Politicians either pay for private cover from their own funds or accept ordinary Medicare.
6. Politicians must equally abide by all laws they impose on the Australian people.
7. All contracts with past and present Politicians men/women are void effective 31/12/16.
The Australian people did not agree to provide perks to Politicians; that burden was thrust upon them. Politicians devised all these contracts to benefit themselves. Serving in Parliament is an honour not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so our politicians should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX Parliament and help bring fairness back into this country!
If you wonder why this needs a concerted initiative by all citizens, look at the figures below:
STATUTORY OFFICES, Date of Effect 1 July 2014, Base Salary (per annum), Total Remuneration for office (per annum)
Chief of the Defence Force > $535,100 - $764,420
Commissioner of Taxation > $518,000 - $740,000
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service > $483,840 - $691,200
Auditor-General for Australia > $469,150 - $670,210
Australian Statistician > $469,150 - $670,210
Salaries of retired Prime Minister and Politicians, Office, Additional salary (%), Salary as of 1 July
Prime Minister, 160, $507,338
Deputy Prime Minister, 105, $400,016
Treasurer, 87.5, $365,868
Leader of the Opposition, 85.0, $360,990
House of Reps Speaker, 75.0, $341,477
Leader of the House, 75.0, $341,477
Minister in Cabinet, 72.5, $336,599
Parliamentary Secretary, 25.0, $243,912
Other Ministers, 57.5, $307,329
Shadow Ministers, 25.0, $243,912
Source: Remuneration Tribunal
So if I pressed all the right buttons, the TOTAL annual wages for the 150 seats in the Parliament are:
Prime Minister $507,338
Deputy Prime Minister $400,016
Treasurer $365,868
Leader of the Opposition $360,990
House of Reps Speaker $341,477
Leader of the House $341,477
Minister in Cabinet $336,599
Parliamentary secretary $243,912
Other Ministers* 307,329 x 71 = $21,820,359
Shadow Ministers* $243,912 x 71 = $17,317,752
The TOTAL ANNUAL SALARIES (for 150 seats) = $41,694,311 - PER YEAR! And that’s just the Federal Politicians, no one else!
For the ‘lifetime’ payment example (below) I used the scenario that:
1. They are paid ‘lifetime’ salaries the same as their last working year
2. After retiring, the ’average’ pollie’s life expectancy is an additional 20 years (which is not unreasonable)
It’s worth remembering that this is EXCLUDING all their other perks! - see here.
So, for a 20-year ‘lifetime’ payment (excluding wages paid while a Parliamentarian), here are some staggering figures:
Prime Minister @ $507,338 = $10,146,760
Deputy Prime Minister @ $400,016 = $8,000,320
Treasurer @ $365,868 = $7,317,360
Leader of the Opposition @ $360,990 = $7,219,800
House of Reps Speaker @ $341,477 = $6,829,540
Leader of the House @ $341,477 = $6,829,540
Minister in Cabinet @ $336,599 = $6,731,980
Parliamentary Secretary @ $243,912 = $4,782,240
Other Ministers** @ $307,329 = A$6,146,580 x 71 = $436,407,180
Shadow ministers** @ $243,912 = A$4,878,240 x 71 = $346,355,040
Conclusions: TOTAL ‘life time’ (20 year) payments, (excluding wages paid while in parliament) = $833,886,220 – OVER $833 MILLION
Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, John Howard, Paul Keating, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, et al, add nauseum, are receiving $10 MILLION + EXTRA at taxpayer expense.
Should an elected PM serve 4 years and then decide to retire, each year (of the 4 years) will have cost taxpayers an EXTRA Two and a half million bucks a year! A$2,536,690 to be precise.
A 2-year retirement payment cut-off will SAVE our budget bottom line $792,201,909 *** NEARLY $800 MILLION.
There are 150 seats in House, minus the 8 above = 142 seats, divided equally for example = 71 each for both shadow and elected ministers.
This example excludes all wages paid while a parliamentarian AND all perks on top of that - travel, hotels, Secretarial staff, speech writers, restaurants, offices, chauffeured limos, security, etc. etc.
150 seats, 20-year payment of $833,886,220 less annual salary x 2 years of $83,388,622. [$41,694,311 x 2]
YOU’RE RIGHT, YOU HAVE FOUND WHERE THE CUTS SHOULD BE MADE!
ACTION: Push for a MAXIMUM 2-year post-retirement payment (give ‘em time to get a real job).
Spread it far and wide folks. People should know.
Dr. Dale Kerwin
School of Education
MT Gravatt Campus
Grifffith University
ph. 07 3735 5884
fax. 07 3735 5991
email: d.kerwin@griffith.edu.au
Below are the email addresses of all our Senators and Members of Parliament. I have sent most of them an email suggesting that they start making some changes to their gilt-edged remuneration packages in line with voters' expectations. So far all I've received are computer-generated "Thank you for your email, We appreciate the time you have taking to contact us" replies.
Why don't you send them an email and see if you have more luck?
Click here to open List of Senators in separate window
Click here to open List of MPs in separate window
Get to it! It's called Democracy in Action!
P.S. If you want to know how the system works, read George Orwell's "Animal Farm". Here is an animated version which has a happy ending. The book and real life is far more depressing:
To read the book, click here.
