Australian Prime Minister’s Salary to Surpass Joe Biden’s

June 19, 2024 TruthUSA

Anthony Albanese is expected to earn approximately $405,000 per year, surpassing Biden’s annual salary of $400,000.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to become the third-highest-paid world leader, taking over from U.S. President Joe Biden, following the recent salary increase for all federal politicians.

On June 17, the independent Remuneration Tribunal announced a 3.5 percent salary hike for federal public officials effective July 1, 2024. This increase follows previous rises of 4 percent in 2023 and 2.75 percent in 2022.

As a result, Mr. Albanese’s salary will increase from $587,000 (US$391,500) to around $607,500 (US$405,000).

In contrast, the U.S. president’s salary remains at $600,000 per year since 2001.

This marks the first time in history that an Australian prime minister earns more than the U.S. president.

Meanwhile, Switzerland President Viola Amherd is the world’s second-highest-paid leader with a salary of $823,000.

Remuneration Tribunal’s Decision

In reaching its decision, the tribunal took into account various factors, including the recent Fair Work Commission’s decision to raise the minimum wage by 3.75 percent, the overall wage inflation of 4.1 percent among Australian workers, and the inflation rate of 3.6 percent in the 12 months leading to March 2024.

“The Tribunal’s main focus is to provide competitive and fair remuneration that is suitable for the responsibilities and experience required for the roles, and that is sufficient to attract and retain talented individuals,” it stated in its decision.

“Many of these office holders do not anticipate or need their compensation for their public sector roles to be set at levels comparable to the private sector.

“Instead, office holders serve for the public good and the chance to influence economic and social policy initiatives.”

The tribunal also noted that the total remuneration increase awarded to public officials since 2015 was 18.25 percent, which is below the overall remuneration increase in both public and private sectors of 24.4 percent during the same period.

Salary Increase for Other Officials

With the recent salary increase, the base salary for MPs will rise by about $8,000 per year, bringing the minimum annual pay of a backbencher to $233,660.

This also means that Australian federal MPs are now the second-highest-paid politicians globally, just above Israeli MPs ($232,000 per year) and below U.S. congress members ($263,000 per year).

Some prominent figures in the parliamentary chamber will also see a substantial pay increase.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ salary will increase to $478,968, while Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will see their remuneration rise to around $438,081.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s salary will increase by $14,640 to $432,280, while members of the shadow cabinet will earn $292,054.

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