NSW Premier Chris Minns and state MPs to receive sizable wage hike as pay freeze draws to a close
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns is set to see his salary surge as a government pay freeze to public sector wages draws to a close.
It was revealed on Saturday the NSW government had made a submission to the Parliamentary Remunerations Tribunal requesting for the pay packets of state MPs and senior bureaucrats to be raised by 3.5 per cent, including superannuation benefits.
The wage increase is in line with the base pay offer made to the general public sector workforce in the NSW budget, which was handed down on Tuesday.
The change would see Mr Minns' salary increase to $431,015, up by $14,575.
The Premier however would still be earning far less than his interstate counterparts, with Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan raking in a whopping $498,031.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman could also see his earnings surge to $326,867, up from $315,814.
The controversial public sector wage freeze was pursued by the Minns government in July 2023 due to complex budget pressures, with NSW Treasury at the time estimating the policy would save taxpayers around $260 million.
It is understood that those savings have since been banked, with the government choosing not to extend the wage moratorium.
The move comes just months after federal politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese received a 2.4 per cent wage increase.
However, while the Prime Minister will see his salary balloon by $15,000 to $622,050, he would still not be earning as much as Band 4 department chiefs around the nation who rake in an annual salary of up to $671,947.
The combined salaries of top executives at various NSW government departments, agencies and state-owned corporations had soared to an unsustainable $1 billion a year when the freeze was first introduced.
The state government also faced a number of wage claims after Mr Minns revoked a 2.5 per cent public sector cap to wages implemented by the former Coalition government.
These caps encompassed nurses, police officers, teachers, and other frontline workers.
Following an Industrial Relations Commission recommendation, NSW nurses were awarded a 4 per cent pay bump in 2023 and an additional 3 per cent rise in 2024.
NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary Shaye Candish slammed the NSW governments submission to the Remuneration Tribunal and said the state's nurses were just as deserving as politicians.
'It's pretty tone deaf to leave the state's biggest female-dominated workforce out in the cold, while taking steps to facilitate a pay rise for themselves,' she told The Daily Telegraph.
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