‘Total Current Annual Cost Is $2,178,370′
The total current annual cost of the present Ministers and Junior Ministers is $2,178,370, the Senate heard, as Senator Vance Campbell responded to Parliamentary Questions from Senator Nicholas Kempe. who is the Shadow Minister of Finance.
Asked “what is the total current annual cost of the present Ministers and Junior Ministers,” the reply was “the total current annual cost of the present Ministers and Junior Ministers is $2,178,370. Please note this amount includes Ministerial plus Member or Senate salaries.”
According to the Parliament website, full time Ministers are paid $156,864, part time Ministers are paid $106,444, Junior Ministers in the House of Assembly receive $67,410, the Minister of Finance is paid either $177,033 [full time] or $116,528 [part time], the Attorney General receives $203,045, the Premier is paid $207,285 while a Junior Minister in the Senate receives $41,792.
A question was also posed asking about the “support staff currently working for” Premier David Burt, including “any and all non-Civil Service position, including but not limited to, political consultants and employees at both the Premier’s Office and the Premier’s Official residence.”
The support staff that were listed included his Chief of Staff Owen Darrell on $125,116, Special Advisor Dr Dana Selassie on $108,409, a housekeeper/cook on $1,312 per week, while a babysitter was listed as receiving $1,900 per month.
JeanAnne Hayward was also included as a Special Aide to the Premier, seconded from the Department of Child and Family Services, with no remuneration listed.
Dawn Simmons was also listed as an Administrative Assistant for the Ageing Well Committee, however the Government noted that Ms. Simmons is actually “not a member of the Premier’s personal staff.”
A Government spokesperson said, “For the last 35 years, Premiers and Leaders of the Opposition have been permitted by law to engage personal staff to assist them in the discharge of their duties.
“It is important to note the following: Ms. Telford is not solely engaged as a babysitter but assists with various matters in the running of the official home of the Premier and his family. She is employed Monday to Friday for 15 hours a week. If there is a need for childcare for any personal events, these charges are not met by the public purse, but by the Premier personally.
“Ms. Dawn Simmons is not a member of the Premier’s personal staff and as is widely known is, in fact, the administrator for the Ageing Well Committee which was announced in 2017. The Office of the Premier is a virtual 24/7 operation and in order to address the significant issues that are part of the Premier’s remit, this staff is necessary.”
The Parliamentary Questions follow below [PDF here]:
Is this a net or gross figure that is displayed?
Pretty gross considering many of us don’t feel we are getting what we are paying for.
Am I right teachers?!