'It is so wrong': Taxpayers footing the stamp duty bill for bureaucrats' Canberra homes
One Nation senator Pauline Hanson has delivered a scathing review of the Federal Government after it was revealed Australian taxpayers have been paying the stamp duty when federal bureaucrats purchase a home on relocation to Canberra.
Under current remuneration guidelines, Departmental Secretaries, the most senior public servant in a Commonwealth Department, are entitled to have all relocation costs paid by the Commonwealth when relocating to Canberra.
It includes stamp duty on the purchase of a property in Canberra, the agent's commission on the sale of their existing property, and other costs including conveyancing and advertising.
With the department heads already earning annual salaries in excess of $670,000, questions are being asked why taxpayers also have to foot the bill for hefty stamp duty fees and other relocation costs.
"That’s $30,000 per person the government will be paying for. Wrong! It should not happen," Senator Hanson told Sunrise.
"Any other company executive that moves to Canberra, they pay for it, not the taxpayer, this is coming out of everyone's paypacket... I think it is so wrong.
"The Australian people have a right to scream from the rooftops about this because it is wrong."
The revelation comes at a time taxpayers are struggling to pay their own stamp duty in rising property markets.
“I would have thought what department secretaries get paid would be more than enough to pay for their own stamp duty,” Independent senator Nick Xenophon added.
The average stamp duty on the median Canberra house price of $684,395 is more than $22,000, while the stamp duty is more than $10,000 on the city’s median unit price of $413,697.
The bad news for taxpayers also comes at a time where the nation’s federal politicians have faced unprecedented scrutiny about their salaries, and how they justify work expenses, prompting multiple resignations in recent years.
Following ongoing criticism, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pledged to introduce an independent parliamentary authority that would better monitor how Members of Parliament spent the public’s money, however public servants are not required to disclose how they spend taxpayers’ money.
Earlier this year embattled Health Minister Sussan Ley's use of taxpayer funding came under fire following revelations she spent $13,000 to use private planes along busy capital city routes, prompting her resignation.
