The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has defended being awarded an 11.8% salary increase, making him the highest paid state leader in the country with a total income of $441,000 a year.
The boost comes as the state’s police, paramedics and train drivers have been offered a much more modest 2% pay raise.
The independent tribunal that determined Andrews’s new pay level also awarded all state MPs a 3.5% boost – their second increase within months – bringing their “basic salary” to $182,413.
Andrews said the MP pay decision was made at arm’s length.
“The tribunal has made its ruling, this is the way the system was basically designed in that politicians would no longer, ever again … determine how much they get paid,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
Asked if the decision passed the pub test, Andrews said: “People can make their own judgment.
“Any pay rise would be considered excessive by some people. Other people would have a different view.”
Andrews brushed off questions about whether he worked harder than police officers and ambulance drivers.
“Self-praise is not worth a lot anyway,” he said. “Me and my team work as hard as we can every day to deliver against the commitments we’ve made. I acknowledge … we are well-paid for the work that we do.”
Andrews said the government’s wages policy was aimed at leaving enough money in the budget for more services. He said a higher pay rise could be lined up if workers accepted some “trade-offs”.
Victorian Police Association spokesman Wayne Gatt said he did not begrudge people getting a “fair and reasonable pay rise”.
“That’s all our members are asking for,” he told reporters. “It’s never been tougher to be a police or protective service officer than it is in 2019 … All they want is a fair go.”
Police are seeking a 4% pay increase on their base salary. The existing agreement expires in November.
United Voice, which represents paramedics, said Andrews was sending a message that politicians were worth five times more than paramedics in the state.
“We’re looking at a situation where Victoria would have the best-paid politicians but the worst-paid paramedics,” United Voice Victorian secretary Ben Redford said. “I challenge Daniel Andrews to find one Victorian who thinks that’s OK.”
Victorian Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari said train and tram drivers worked hard and deserved some recognition.
“Victorians will think this is profoundly unfair,” Hilakari said.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has been in the federal court on Thursday seeking clearance to undertake protected industrial action amid alleged threats of legal sanctions from multinational corporation Metro Trains over attempted action in August. A two-day hearing has been set down for October.
The Community Public Sector Union Victorian branch secretary, Karen Batt, has written to the government calling out its “blatant double standard on wages”.
“The justifications of their wage tribunal granting these increases equally apply to each and every government employee but these workers are denied access to similar tribunal determinations until we’re forced to take industrial action,” Batt said in a statement.
