When is enough enough? When do we say to retired politicians, governors and other public figures, ‘thanks for your public service, it was great, but now it is time for all of us to move on’.
Across Australia ex-public servants are still being treated like royalty. Some examples?
Nick Greiner was Premier of NSW from 1988 to 1992. He resigned when an ICAC investigation found he would be seen “by a notional jury as conducting himself contrary to known and recognised standards of honesty and integrity”. 23 years later we paid out $291,353 to provide Mr Greiner an office, chauffeured car and other perks for just one year. During those 23 years he has been highly paid as a professional board director, including being the chairman for eight years of British American Tobacco Australia – another questionable mark on his integrity, to my mind.
Bob Carr is also a former NSW Premier. Since ‘retiring’ he has been very busy doing many things, including being a Macquarie Bank consultant and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs. Last year he cost taxpayers $294,549 for similar perks. He left office 10 years ago and is in remarkably good health.
The recently retired Governor of NSW, Dame Marie Bashir, was funded last year to the tune of $400,004. Her office in central Sydney cost $183,108 in rent, her car and driver $116,373 and her personal secretary $92,968. Granted, she is still patron to over 70 organisations but at age 85, does she need a ludicrously expensive office in the central business district of Sydney with a top pay scale secretary?
It looks like reaching the pinnacle of state politics allow you to set yourself up extremely well to earn a very good income from your contacts. Why then do we have to cover these ongoing perks?
In these times of fiscal responsibility, when our governments are having to borrow money to supply essential services, I for one say, ‘enough is enough’.
What do you think?
Discussion1 Comment
What was it the Hockey said, ‘This is the end of the age of entitlement”, yet Mr Hockey goes off to the USA earning a top wage as an Ambassador yet still pulling a huge pension from the Australian people’s purse. To be fair he is not the first but it is time this was stopped.