Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will retain his position as Australia’s highest-paid state leader after an independent tribunal granted all members of Parliament a 2.75 percent pay boost.
Andrews will pocket A$465,000 (US$322,589) a year, including up to $58,435  in expenses and allowances. Victoria’s incoming deputy Jacinta Allan will take home almost $400,000.
Meanwhile, all Victorian MPs’ annual incomes will hit more than $192,000, about a $5,000 rise from the 2021-22 period.
The Victorian premier defended the independent tribunal’s decision to increase the yearly base, saying “we don’t set our own pay, that’s a change [the government] made.”
“It was appropriate for us to make some special arrangements these last couple of years because the state was doing it so tough. But it is independent and I’ll leave it to individuals to make up their own minds on these things,” he told reporters….