After the last pay freeze in 2008 the tribunal awarded a rise of $40,000 to backbenchers and $90,000 to the prime minister

The Remuneration Tribunal, which sets politicians’ pay, has been unable to rule out granting politicians a large catch-up pay rise once the freeze is over.



The tribunal agreed to freeze politicians’ pay for a year on Monday after a request from the government, which is keen to be seen to be sharing the budget pain.

But asked if the tribunal could guarantee it would not award a big pay rise once the pay was unfrozen, a spokeswoman said: “We're just not in a position to speculate on any outcome that is 12 months or more away. No one knows this far out what factors or other indicators will need to be considered, so we can't predict.”

The tribunal bases its decisions on a variety of factors – including the average pay of jobs in the public sector – and pegs the pay of politicians to it.

“So, over the next 12 months, the tribunal will continue to monitor wages, economic conditions and other indicators to ensure it remains fully informed and that its decision-making is based on appropriate factors. It is not possible to predict what these factors may be 12 months or more from now,” the spokeswoman said.

In the statement the tribunal released on its agreeing to freeze politicians’ wages, it said it had been evident for months that the movement in public service wages would be “restrained” because of government policies.

“It should be noted that remuneration for offices in the tribunal’s jurisdiction is set in the context of a broader job market and economy and not in a vacuum – the remuneration outlook for other jobs in the public sector is one of the most influential factors the tribunal takes into account,” the statement said.

Currently the base salary of a backbencher is $195,130, increasing for ministers and up to $500,000 for the prime minister.



Kevin Rudd froze politicians’ wages in 2008. Soon after they were unfrozen the tribunal awarded a pay rise of $40,000 to backbenchers and $90,000 to the prime minister after an extensive review that led to travel perks such as the Gold Pass being scrapped.



At the time then-opposition leader Tony Abbott called the pay freeze “a bit of a popular stunt”. Joe Hockey said it should be extended to the public service if Rudd was to prove it wasn’t a stunt.



The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said he supported freezing the pay of politicians. Asked if he thought it was populist politics he said: “Tony Abbott has demonstrated that he’s two different people. When he was leader of the opposition and wanted Australians' votes he would make any promise at any time to anyone. Now he’s the prime minister of Australia, he's got the wrong priorities and he’s breaking his promises. Tony Abbott is out of touch with the lives that ordinary Australians lead.”



Hockey said whatever the government asked of the electorate they had to be prepared to do themselves.



“Well, I think we have got to send a clear message to the electorate that whatever we are asking the electorate to contribute, to the budget repair task, we are going to contribute ourselves as well and I think that's an important message to send,” he said.







