POLLIES’ SNEAKY PAY RISE

AN independent body responsible for politicians’ pay has boosted the amount MPs can claim for nights spent away from home.

The Remuneration Tribunal yesterday effectively handed politicians another pay rise by increasing their travelling allowance.

The tribunal said the change would also apply to those in judicial offices.

Politicians will see their allowance rise from $276 a night to $285 a night from August 27 when they stay in Canberra to attend Parliament.

It means MPs from outside Canberra who claim travel allowances for every sitting day will be eligible to take home about $18,000 following the change.

Parliamentarians can claim more than $400 a night when staying in other capitals such as Sydney.

A senator or MP from Canberra or those representing an electorate near the Australian Capital Territory can now claim a daily expense allowance of $90 for each sitting day.

This is up from $87 a day last time that the tribunal made a ruling in 2016.

It comes after the same body announced in June that base salaries for members of Parliament would be increased to $203,020.

Mr Turnbull’s pay rose by more than $10,300 to $527,800 while High Court Chief Justice Susan Kiefel’s base pay rose to $584,511.

The tribunal said it had received a “notable increase in submissions” asking for pay raises “based at least in part on private-sector remuneration” in a sign some public servants felt they weren’t being paid enough.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott froze the pay of all politicians in the 2014 Budget, when he argued that all Australians — including politicians and top public servants — needed to make a contribution to repairing the budget deficit.