The ACT Remuneration Tribunal has backed off a proposed 6 per cent hike in politicians' pay, opting instead for a 3 per cent increase, or an extra $4000 a year on their base pay.
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The base rate from July 1 will be $136,800.
Senior public servants received a little less – a 2.5 per cent pay increase. The increase puts an executive level 1 public servant on $143,000 from July 1, rising to $340,000 for the top executive level 3.12.
The tribunal gave politicians a hefty 6 per cent increase last year and at the time it forecast another 6 per cent this year, in its efforts to bring pay for Canberra's politicians up to the average in parliaments around the country.
But it has opted instead for a more modest increase, mindful of the economic climate and the ACT's budget.
One of the issues facing the ACT budget is the increase in the number of politicians with the move from 17 to 25 members at next year's election, which will cost more than $1 million extra in base salaries, on top of staff and office costs.
Few politicians receive the base rate at the moment, with loadings given for different positions in the Assembly, ranging from 10 per cent extra for whips and chairpeople of Assembly committees to 110 per cent extra for the Chief Minister. Andrew Barr's salary from July 1 will amount to $287,000, up by $8000.
In 2013, base salaries for politicians ranged from $113,000 in Tasmania, to $153,000 in South Australia, and $195,000 for federal parliamentarians. Premiers and chief ministers receive about twice the base salary, except in Western Australia, where the loading is an extra 132 per cent.
Canberra's politicians are no longer given a car, but get a car allowance instead, which will be boosted from July to $25,500 a year. They also get a $2500 allowance for taxis or hire cars and an Assembly car park.
They get a $15,000 annual allowance for "communications", including laptops, mobiles, printing and postage, an allowance that hasn't changed.
Friday's decision on pay also specifies that politicians are allowed the cost of an airline lounge membership – something they have had for years but which hasn't been spelled out.
Mr Barr said people did not enter politics for the money.
"Most people who put themselves forward for public office are doing so for greater reasons than the financial reward," he told ABC radio. "If you consider the amount of hours that most people in politics work, it's seven days a week, often 20 hours a day, then your hourly rate is probably not that great, but in the end the motivation is not financial."
Remuneration Tribunal chairwoman Anne Cahill Lambert said the tribunal still wanted to bring ACT politicians' pay into line with national averages, but now was not the time, given the flat economy and budget pressures.
"We were cognisant of the extra costs facing the territory such as Mr Fluffy and we just felt that in this time of economic restraint we just couldn't countenance 6 per cent, despite the fact that we do want to get our politicians up there a bit further," she said.
In an earlier submission to the tribunal, Mr Barr urged restraint in this year's pay determination, pointing to pressure on the budget from the Mr Fluffy buyback, expected to cost the government $530 million over the next four years.
Mr Barr is forecasting a budget deficit of $770 million this financial year, a figure that vastly outweighs any previous result in the territory.
He pointed to the 1.5 per cent pay increase for public servants in 2014-15, and said pay for senior public servants, officials and politicians should be consistent with that, and not exceed it.
Others whose pay is set by the tribunal also received 2.5 per cent, including the auditor-general, the human rights commissioner and other commissioners, the head of the Canberra Institute and Technology, and the Assembly clerk.