Fed: The cost of vice-regal posts

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2004
Fed: The cost of vice-regal posts

By Mike Hedge and Doug Conway

SYDNEY, AAP - It seems like a pretty good job. Decent pay, great house, staff to wait
on you hand and foot. All that's needed most of the time is the ability to nod and smile
at the right occasions.

But it does cost a bit - more than $34 million a year to pay and maintain the governor-general,
six state governors and one territory administrator, as well as all the former office-holders
entitled to perks and pensions for life.

The eight incumbents - two soldiers, two athletes, a doctor, a lawyer, a songwriter/author,
and until recently a former United Nations weapons inspector - between them are served
by a small army of several hundred who cook, clean, garden, wait, serve, drive, organise,
administer, advise and otherwise attend to their every requirement.

When they are not on official duties abroad or away from home, all but the governor
of NSW reside in mansions replete with ballrooms, billiard rooms and lavishly stocked
cellars, all set amid the tranquil acreage of prime land worth hundreds of millions of
dollars.

In return the viceroys try to foster civic achievement by handing out gongs, travelling,
speaking, attending functions and hosting receptions for worthies ranging from scouts
and guides to charities and heads of state.

They visit schools, hospitals and churches, but also attend the opera, theatre, football
matches and race meetings, as Sir John Kerr did unforgettably and drunkenly one Melbourne
Cup day in the 1970s.

They dot the Is and cross the Ts of government - signing bills into law, dissolving
parliaments, calling elections and appointing ministers - functions many say could be
performed by other means.

By far the biggest vice-regal drain on the public purse is the $10 million it costs
to maintain the governor-general, his wife, their two mansions in Canberra and Sydney,
and their 75 staff.

Almost a third of that is chewed up by the Australian honours system.

Around 30,000 medals, clasps, baubles and certificates are bestowed annually at a cost
of around $3 million. The medals alone cost $857,000.

Governor-General Michael Jeffery pays income tax on his $365,000 salary.

For his money he attends around 300 functions a year and officiates at 100 or more other events.

In his name his staff sends out thousands of messages of congratulation for Australians
celebrating their 100th birthdays and to couples celebrating their 60th, 65th and 70th
wedding anniversaries.

He is also entitled to superannuation of $180,000 a year, free travel, and an office
and secretary for the rest of his life.

Similar arrangements are in place for former G-Gs Sir William Deane, Sir Ninian Stephen,
Sir Zelman Cowen, Bill Hayden and Peter Hollingworth.

The various state governors and territory administrators are also handsomely remunerated,
earning between $130,000 to $370,000 a year, although only Queensland and the Northern
Territory offer lifetime rewards.

NSW, the lone state to have pared back the trappings of office, was home to Australia's
first governor - Captain Arthur Phillip, who incidentally brought his own timber and canvas
residence with him on the First Fleet.

NSW Governor Marie Bashir, like her predecessor Gordon Samuels, lives at home rather
than in the grandiose, castellated pile overlooking Sydney Harbour that housed 27 earlier
governors.

Her office is regarded as part-time, runs on the lowest budget of all - less than $2
million a year- and employs just 12 staff.

The upkeep on Government House is met by the Historic Houses Trust, and the grand old
building is put to a variety of community uses.

When NSW Premier Bob Carr introduced these streamlined arrangements several years ago,
monarchists vowed to make him reverse "one of the most outrageous and despicable acts
ever taken by a politician".

These days no one seems to notice any difference.

Representing English royalty in a far-flung corner of the commonwealth was once regarded
as an honour so great that the incumbent was obliged to put his hand in his own pocket
to fund it.

Early G-Gs received the not inconsiderable sum of 10,000 pounds a year.

From that amount, though, they were expected to pay for the upkeep of their mansions,
staff wages, travel and an assortment of banquets and official functions.

The burden proved so great on the inaugural governor-general, the Earl of Hopetoun,
that he chucked it in after only 16 months with a complaint to the Colonial Secretary
that he couldn't afford to do the job.

The G-G's salary remained at 10,000 pounds, or its decimal equivalent of $20,000, until
1974 when then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam granted John Kerr a pay rise to $30,000.

We don't know whether Sir John was grateful or not.

He sacked Mr Whitlam a year later to resolve a constitutional impasse between the government
and the senate.

AAP dc/mh/tv/jc/lb

KEYWORD: VICEREGAL BACKGROUNDER (WITH BUTLER) (RPT)

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