Mr Abbott responded that he also had a three-year contract - otherwise known as the time left until the next mandated federal election - and said: "I don't know what is going to happen after three years". "We all have to live with uncertainty and it's not nice and sometimes you've got a sick feeing in the pit of your stomach when you contemplate the future," he said. Faced with opinion polls giving Labor a comfortable election-winning lead and revealing widespread anger over the "unfairness" of his first budget, Mr Abbott said the Coalition was in "political jeopardy" and first-term governments were "not invulnerable". "We would not have been putting ourselves in political jeopardy if we didn't think it was absolutely necessary to change the country for the better," he said.

Whilst the prospect of losing power in three years' time might be a nauseating thought, one suspects any knots in the Prime Ministerial gut might be lessened by the certainty of his financial future. Former prime ministers often enjoy successful careers beyond Parliament, the political afterlife offering luxurious options - well-paid speaking engagements, executive board positions and consulting positions. Decisions that are almost certainly not motivated by financial concerns. The truth is, former prime ministers, and retired long-term MPs, have, and will continue to be, more than comfortable in their twilight years. Tony Abbott has been a parliamentarian since 1994.

This means he is a privileged member of the old Commonwealth defined benefit superannuation scheme. Only politicians elected on, or after, the federal election of 2004 are subjected to the less-generous contributory scheme introduced in haste by Prime Minister John Howard (at the goading of then Opposition leader Mark Latham), which is similar to most schemes available to Australian workers, though the annual contribution amount has grown from nine per cent to 15 per cent. It is interesting to note, neither men's pension arrangements were affected, not a whit, by the legislative fiddling. Mr Abbott, as prime minister, currently receives an annual salary of around $503,000. Current parliamentary pension rules state that a rate of 75 per cent of salary payable to the highest office a person has attained is the annual pension.

That would mean Abbott's putative pension would be about $377,000 a year. However, legislation has capped the top payable rate at around $200,000 a year (before tax), which is approximately the pension former prime ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd receive now they are no longer in parliament. As things stand, Tony Abbott the pensioner of the future can expect at least $200,000 a year, an office, up to four staff and a car, plus generous travel arrangements - a perk denied to lesser MPs. Recent history shows Mr Abbott is unusually sensitive to changes to his fiscal position. In 2007, when the Howard government lost power and he was relegated to an opposition backbencher's salary - an income cut of about 40 per cent - Abbott was forced to take out a $700,000 mortgage on his northern beaches home.

Mr Abbott made it perfectly clear it was a situation to his disliking. "What's it called? Mortgage stress? The advent of the Rudd Government has caused serious mortgage stress for a section of the Australian community, i.e. former Howard government ministers," he said at the time. "You don't just lose power ... you certainly lose income as well, and if you are reliant on your parliamentary salary for your daily living, obviously it makes a big difference." Furthermore, in 2008, when Kevin Rudd announced a salary freeze for all politicians, Mr Abbott was, as were MPs on both sides of the political divide, a tad unhappy with the arrangements. The pay freeze, he said, was "all very well for politicians who have other sources of income or who have very high income from their spouses".

The 2014 Budget decision to once again freeze the salaries of politicians and public servants reveals either a startling change of heart by Mr Abbott and his personal views on the health of the remunerations afforded to parliamentary colleagues, or much more likely, a greater appreciation of the public's perceptions of the pay packets of politicians. Loading 'Chantelle' did not reveal the salary specifics of her current contract, however, a basic search of jobs website SEEK revealed the average minimum salary for Home & Community Care jobs advertised in April 2014 as $57,606 - roughly $450,000 less than Tony Abbott's current salary. Perhaps all uncertainties of the future are equal but some just more equal than others.