Albanese gives ministers extra staff despite crossbench demands he plays fair

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has awarded three ministers additional staffers worth a total of $550,000, as crossbench MPs accuse him of failing to play fair over his power to decide opponents’ staffing levels.

Defence Minister Richard Marles, Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain and Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino each hired an additional staff member between May and October, while allocations for the Greens, One Nation and independents remained flat.

The government now employs 433 adviser-level staff among their 30 ministers, with a maximum total remuneration for the cohort of a little more than $96 million. By comparison, the shadow ministry currently employs 92 advisers on a maximum total remuneration of just above $19 million.

The prime minister’s sole discretion to set additional staffing allocations for both his ministers and his opponents has come under increased scrutiny with both One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and independent senator Fatima Payman heaping pressure on Albanese to hand the power to an independent body.

On Thursday, this masthead revealed that One Nation MP David Farley had rejected an unsolicited offer from Albanese to employ an additional staffer, with a $200,000 salary package, over concerns the prime minister was seeking to influence the lower-house politician.

It follows similar revelations in this masthead that Albanese wrote a letter guaranteeing 15 staff to the Greens three days before the party teamed up with Labor to reject an inquiry into his power to allocate staff; allowed Senator Tammy Tyrrell to retain additional staff when she joined Labor in May; and offered then-opposition leader Sussan Ley additional staff for support of the government’s attempt to change freedom of information laws.

Albanese defended his provision of staffing on Thursday, saying he had increased the staffing allocation to all federal MPs during his time as prime minister. While all federal MPs can now employ five electorate officers, up from four, Albanese has complete discretion over how many higher-paid advisers each MP gets.

Electorate officers have a base salary of up to $102,681, while adviser-level staff for ministers can earn up to $317,152, and $167,530 for all other MPs.

The latest data, accurate as of October 1, found Marles and Mulino had each hired one “adviser 3” grade staffer with a base salary up to $167,530. McBain hired an “adviser 2″ grade staffer with a base salary up to $113,521. All three staffers can also collect $35,387 in allowances. Marles now has 20 advisers, McBain has eight and Mulino has seven.

The offices of Albanese, Marles, Mulino and McBain were all contacted for comment regarding the responsibilities of the additional staff and the specific pay grade determinations. None responded prior to publication.

Northern Territory MP Luke Gosling appears to have lost two staffers when he stood aside from a special envoy role after being charged with breaching bail conditions while awaiting a court date for an alleged assault. Gosling’s breach of bail charge has since been dropped. He is facing two charges of assaulting the Northern Territory administrator, which he denies.

Payman is the only independent in the parliament who has no advisers. The senator believes Albanese is punishing her for defecting from the Labor Party during the last term of parliament.

Integrity experts and crossbench MPs have repeatedly called for the power to be handed to an independent body over fears the prime minister is “weaponising” his power.

MPs’ salaries are set by the independent Remuneration Tribunal, a body that has been floated as a more appropriate way to decide staffing allowances.

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