He and his four fellow commissioners, including former Liberal senator Amanda Vanstone, are in the highest pay bracket that exists for specialist advisers to government. At $1490, Mr Shepherd's daily pay is higher than the average weekly earnings of an ordinary full-time worker. Commissioner Peter Boxall, a former senior public servant and one-time chief-of-staff to former treasurer Peter Costello, has received $21,000 for eight full days and six "part days". Robert Fisher, a bureaucrat from Western Australia, has been paid $29,250 for 19.5 equivalent full days. Ms Vanstone and fellow commissioner Tony Cole have not yet submitted a claim for payment.

Greens senator Richard di Natale, who chairs the parliamentary Select Committee into the government's Commission of Audit, accused the commissioners of "hypocrisy". "If you're about recommending sweeping cuts to services people rely on and you're justifying that on a dire budget situation, surely you could be setting an example yourself?" he said. A spokesman for the secretariat for the Commission of Audit said the pay scale had been set by the former Labor government. He said the top bracket is not for ordinary consultants but for eminent people who bring with them a particular expertise. Mr Shepherd is the current chairman of the Business Council of Australia, which is urging the Abbott government to take harsh measures to bring the budget back into surplus. He has fended off claims potential conflicts of interest due to his central role in the business world and boardroom roles in a number of industries.

In answers to questions on notice by the senate select committee, the Commission of Audit refused to supply a list of groups it has met with, claiming it would be too much work. "In light of its reporting deadlines, the Commission considers that it would currently be an inappropriate diversion of resources to compile this information for the Committee by the deadline for responses," it wrote. The Senate committee will hold its next hearing on Wednesday when both the Business Council and the Australian Council of Trade Unions will outline what medicine the nation's finances need. Loading In its submission to the Commission of Audit, the ACTU has called for the reversal of personal income tax cuts for high earners granted by the Howard government rather than cuts to existing services.