Pay rise for closure of 39 schools
From the Daily Telegraph
JON Stanhope — author of the most crippling Budget ever forced on the ACT — has taken a $5000 pay rise as he shuts down 39 schools.
The Chief Minister yesterday admitted his salary would jump to $209,868 a year, not including his taxpayer-funded car.
An embarrassed Mr Stanhope confirmed he would accept the 2.5 per cent pay rise — at the same time Canberra households face tax increases of up to 40 per cent.
“The Remuneration Tribunal in fact wrote to me this week in relation to its latest determination of pay for senior public servants and MLAs,” he said.
“I haven’t had an opportunity to read it yet, but I have been advised by a member of my staff.”
His windfall grated with the desperation of thousands of parents fighting his school closures.
Leila, 3, was looking forward to attending pre-school at the historic Tharwa school on Canberra’s outskirts. But in Tuesday’s Budget, Mr Stanhope said he planned to close the 107-year-old school and 38 others.
Tharwa Primary School board chairman Karim Haddad said: “We still haven’t found out why we’re being closed.” The school serves 29 primary children and 14 preschoolers.
Mr Stanhope revealed yesterday he was told of the 2.5 per cent pay rise for himself and the 17 other ACT Legislative Assembly members as he finalised a Budget business leaders said made it cheaper for Canberra residents to live elsewhere.
The senior public servants who advised him have also won a 3 per cent pay jump.
Trade unions also accused the left-wing Labor Chief Minister of gross hypocrisy for slashing superannuation benefits for new public servants from 15.4 to 9 per cent while incoming politicians will get almost twice that — 17 per cent down from 29 per cent.
“That’s gross hypocrisy,” the Community and Public Service Union’s Vince McDevitt said.