With large cuts in the last ADF budget one would think austere living or at least leadership-by-example would be in order for our top star-ranked officers.
Not so. They will get a pay-raise. And, it won't even be performance-based.
General Hurley's annual salary of $679,500 is due to climb to $780,000 or $15,000-a-week by July 2014 or almost twice the rate of the next rung down.
Vice-chief Air Marshal Mark Binskin employs seven staff in his office, including a communications adviser and a driver - but no chef.
Defence said none of the staff employed by top brass was "personal" but were employed to "assist in the conduct of official duties".
The Government is cutting more than $5.5 billion over four years from the defence budget and lower ranks are being asked to do more with less.
Today, the "mission" of the ADF is not to defend the country. It exists to keep taxpayer funded oxygen-thieves in a style of comfort they have become accustomed to and see all this as their due.
6 comments:
Unfortunately these pay scales are right through the Public Service. Way above civilian wages. This current Govt is away with the fairies.
The economy is slowing dramatically, yet the nonsense is becoming endemic.
This incompetent rabble now owes $260 billion in public debt, up from $245 billion only weeks ago. Now about 23% of GDP. All in 5 years.
Staggering, and for what purpose. In addition Govt revenues have actually risen since 2007.
In November 2007, debt ,zero. Plus $20 billion in the bank, and $60 billion in the future fund.
Now this rabble has had the limit of debt raised to $300 billion through Parliament.
It is also an interesting fact that of the new 700,000 new jobs created between 11/2007 and 2/2012, 460,000 were in the public service(Federal and State) Australia wide. In reality real jobs have not been created at all, taking into account the increase in population.
We now face more cuts in Defence, except in the civilian bureaucracy, where we have a target of a reduction 1000 out of a total of 22,000.
The whole thing is breathtaking, to say the least.
It's much the same here in the 'States. We have more Admirals than ships;
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/02/20/tar-and-feathers-for-ray-mabus/print
The Royal Navy (the one that's actually *supposed* to be royal) has the same problem;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/3073680/Admirals-outnumber-warships-in-Royal-Navy-report-shows.html
There goes my dream of becoming President of the USA, he only gets $400.000. Even with his $100,000 travel account, $50,000 expense account and $19,000 for entertainment he still only gets $569,000.
Now I want to be a top level Australian government employee. Is there an opening for the job of "First Sea Lord of the Australian Navy", preferably with a uniform with lots of gold braid and no requirement to actually go to sea?
Intersting that the British are getting rid of 22,000 public servants employed by Defence.
The federal government's employee costs surged from $18.69bn in 2007-08 - the year Howard government treasurer Peter Costello delivered his last budget - to $24.71bn in 2011-12, a rise of 32.23 per cent.
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