Nice work if you can get it: Premiers pocket plenty
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan is set to rake in a hefty half a million dollar salary, securing her position as Australia’s second-highest paid politician.
After a pay bump, the Victorian leader will pocket $512,972, trailing only Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s $620,000 pay cheque.
The $14,941 pay rise comes after a decision by the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal to increase MP salaries and allowances by three per cent on Monday.
The premier’s package includes an expense allowance of $64,475.
Deputy Premier Ben Carroll will soon be paid $236,662, while Opposition Leader Brad Battin will collect $409,107.
Backbench MPs will have a base salary of $211.972.
The increase is slightly below the 3.5 per cent pay rise set to take effect for minimum wage workers from Tuesday following the Fair Work Commission’s annual review.
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Allan remains the highest paid state or territory leader, ahead of Queensland Premier David Crisafulli ($476,323) and NSW Premier Chris Minns ($416,440).
Although the wage for NSW MPs could rise in the coming weeks as a two-year salary freeze comes to an end.
Minns could receive an additional $14,575, pushing his salary to roughly $431,015, if a proposed 3.5 per cent pay rise goes ahead.
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro is the lowest paid state or territory leader.
But things are looking up for Country Liberal Party boss after her base salary jumped more than $16,000 to $350,000 at the start of 2025.
At the same time the base pay for NT MPs went from $166,763 to $175,000, equating to an increase of almost five per cent.
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The steep uptick followed politicians and public servants’ wages being frozen for several years under the former NT Labor government.
Tasmanian politicians are set to receive a $30,000 increase in their base salary after a determination by Tasmania’s Industrial Commission.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff ruled out the 22 per cent pay rise for politicians on June 9, which will see his own salary increase from $301,397 to $368,783.
But the pay rise will proceed from Tuesday, as parliament was dissolved before any move to disallow it could be made.
If re-elected, Rockliff has pledged to overturn the increase.
The pay cheques of Australian politicians compare fairly well to the rest of the world.
In comparison, US President Donald Trump reportedly earns US$400,000 (about AUD $617,000).
Meanwhile, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong remains the world’s highest-paid government leader, reportedly collecting S$2.2 million (AUD $2.5 million) last year.
AUSTRALIA’S HIGHEST EARNING STATE AND TERRITORY LEADERS:
- Jacinta Allan (Victoria) – $512,972
- David Crisafulli (Queensland) – $476,323
- Chris Minns (NSW) – $416,440
- Peter Malinauskas (SA) – reportedly about $450,000
- Andrew Barr (ACT) – $404,406
- Roger Cook (WA) – $406,324
- Jeremy Rockliff (Tasmania) – $368,784
- Lia Finocchiaro (NT) – $350,000
