Government acts on Remuneration Tribunal decisions
Gary Gray
posted Thursday, 9 February 2012
Legislation introduced today in Federal Parliament will reform key entitlements of MPs and some former politicians.
Announced on December 15, long-standing expensive travel entitlements will be scrapped or slashed, including the controversial Life Gold Pass, overseas study travel, and post-parliamentary service travel.
The legislation will also limit undesirable windfall superannuation gains resulting from decisions of the independent Remuneration Tribunal.
The details:
· Life Gold Pass: Cost taxpayers $1.3 million in 2010-11. Under this benefit, former MPs, who have not held office as Prime Minister, qualify for life for up to 25 domestic return trips each year. This includes travel with their spouse or de facto partner. The spouse or de facto partner of a sitting parliamentarian, who has never held office as PM and who has qualified for Life Gold Pass, is also entitled to 25 domestic return trips each year.
o This benefit will be abolished prospectively so that it is not available to those who enter or re-enter Parliament following commencement of the Bill. Travel by existing Gold Pass holders or MPs who have qualified for the pass will be reduced from 25 trips to 10 annually. Spouse travel for qualified pass holders will also be reduced from 25 to 10 return trips. These changes will occur when the legislation is enacted.
· Superannuation: The Bill will ensure that the pay increase will not provide unjustified windfall gains to parliamentarians who serve, or have served, as parliamentary office holders or ministers of state and are members of the Parliament’s original 1948 defined benefit superannuation scheme.
After completing a comprehensive work-value study, the Tribunal indicated in its initial report of December 2011 that it will determine that the base annual salary for Federal Parliamentarians should increase from $140,910 to $185,000 per year, once the link between additional pensions provided under the 1948 superannuation scheme and additional salaries payable to parliamentary office holders and ministers is severed.
The Tribunal made the following key recommendations regarding parliamentary entitlements:
· the introduction of additional salaries for shadow ministers;
· closure of the Life Gold Pass scheme;
· termination of the present Overseas Study Travel entitlement;
· greatly limited severance travel entitlement;
· severance of the link between pensions under the 1948 scheme and current parliamentary office holder and Ministerial salaries; and
· the introduction, consistent with the recommendations made by the Tribunal in 1986, of workers compensation arrangements for parliamentarians.
Special Minister of State Gary Gray said he was pleased to note the broad-based support across the Parliament for these measures.
Mr Gray said the Tribunal would make its determinations after the passage of the legislation.
These included:
· Severance Travel: Cost taxpayers $291,908 in 2010-11. Under this benefit, former MPs who don’t qualify for the Life Gold Pass qualify for between six months and five years’ severance travel after they leave Parliament. They get up to 25 annual domestic return trips.
o Travel by current parliamentarians, when they retire, will be reduced from 25 business-class return trips anywhere in Australia each year to five return trips to Canberra in the six months after they leave Parliament.
· Overseas Study Travel: Cost taxpayers $915,849 in 2010-11, but has a potential total cost of $4 million a year. Under the existing scheme, serving MPs are entitled to travel to the value of one first-class round-the-world ticket per three-year Parliamentary term. The benefit accrues into the following Parliament if it is not used. This benefit was worth $21,700 as at 1 July 2011. This benefit will be scrapped for all parliamentarians although current accruals will be honoured.
More information on the Government’s forthcoming reforms of the remuneration can be found at: http://www.smos.gov.au/media/2011/mr_652011.html and at http://www.remtribunal.gov.au
Tags: entitlements, travel