AUSTRALIA—New South Wales Labor is calling for an independent investigation into the NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner’s 11 percent pay rise amid a pay freeze for public servants.
RFS chief Rob Rogers had his total annual salary lifted from $403,905 to $450,012 on July 13, the Sun-Herald reports.
Emergency Services Minister David Elliott appointed Rogers as the successor to Shane Fitzsimmons that same month, despite being only two months into a 12-month interim role.
Labor treasury spokesman Walt Secord called on Premier Gladys Berejiklian to launch an independent external investigation into the pay increase to ensure it was “necessary and in accordance with all rules and regulations”.
“The move by Minister Elliott is random, extraordinary, and premature—especially as the position was on an interim basis and it had 10 more months to run at a much lower pay rate,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
“Minister David Elliott’s decision is a slap to the state’s 410,000 workers, which includes nurses, hospital cleaners, police officers, child protection workers and bus drivers who were all refused their promised 2.5 percent pay rise by the premier.”
The NSW government is pursuing a pay freeze for public servants through the Industrial Relations Commission.
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