Scott Morrison, the former Prime Minister of Australia, is about to experience a significant pay cut, seeing his income diminish by more than half.
In case anyone feels inclined to sympathize, his annual salary will drop from a hefty $550,000 to $211,250—not exactly a low-income bracket.
Perhaps the bigger adjustment will be losing the perks of his former role. Morrison will no longer enjoy rent-free homes in Canberra or on Sydney Harbour, nor will he have access to a private jet or taxpayer-funded personal services like a chef and chauffeur.
The Morrison family will now be responsible for their own household expenses, including dry cleaning and groceries. This newfound responsibility might explain why Morrison seemed unaware of basic grocery prices during the election campaign.
In an image captured during his tenure, Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny can be seen boarding an RAAF aircraft at Sydney Airport. Access to this government plane is one of the privileges he no longer enjoys.
The cost of all these added extras comes to around $350,000 a year, or $1,000 a day, so the Morrisons, like a great many other Australian families, may have to do some belt tightening.
During the election Mr Morrison called Anthony Albanese a ‘loose unit’ for supporting a rise of $1 an hour for minimum wage workers currently getting $20.33 an hour.
But don’t expect to see Mr Morrison looking for bargains in Aldi anytime soon — his after tax salary as an ordinary MP will still mean he gets around $12,000 a month.
You may bump into him in Sydney or Canberra airports though, as he will no longer have access to the VIP RAAF jet he has been using since becoming PM in 2018.
The Morrisons are moving back to the house they own in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, which was empty for three-and-a-half years until last February.
In February, the Morrison’s former pool cleaner Nikki Durant and her two adult sons moved in when her house in the Northern Rivers town of Woodburn flooded.
But the Durants moved out on Monday as the Morrisons need their home back.
Their former digs at The Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney came with four full-time staff including a senior chef and house attendants, though.
Scott Morrison is pictured cooking with his daughter Lily in the industrial kitchen at The Lodge in Canberra. The Morrison family has move out since Labor won last week’s federal election
Scott Morrison (pictured) liked to post pictures to social media of him cooking curries in the kitchen of the tax-payer funded prime ministerial residence in Canberra, The Lodge
It is not likely that their house in the Sutherland Shire is big enough to accomodate staff quarters, though, even if they did hire some home help.
All former prime ministers are allowed to set up a tax-payer funded city centre office when they leave politics.
But Mr Morrison is understood to not be in any rush to leave politics yet.
Scott Morrison is pictured on the government plane, which he will no longer be able to use now that he is not the prime minister any more
Scott Morrison is pictured getting out of a government operated ComCar, one of the benefits of office
It is thought he will stay on as the member for Cook for a while until a corporate board room job comes up.
Until then, he will have to make do on his take home pay of $12,000 a month.
One benefit Mr Morrison will probably have, though, is the greater access to government operated ComCar given to former prime ministers.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) stands with newly appointed Foreign Minister Penny Wong, at the door of the government plane, on their way to Tokyo for a Quad summit