Fed: Gold pass a reward for 20 hard years - former MP
By Debra Way
CANBERRA, Aug 23 AAP - The life gold pass giving free travel to long-serving MPs wasa just reward for 20 years of hard work and personal sacrifice, retired politicians saidtoday.
Three former members of federal parliament, Tony Lamb, Kathy Sullivan and Manfred Cross,travelled to Canberra to argue that the gold pass should not be restricted further.
It was not revealed whether they had used their gold passes to get there.
Mr Lamb, a former Victorian Labor MP, said federal politicians lived a unique lifeand the gold pass was a reward for 20 hard years.
"It is not a life to be compared with those who work in cubicles in an office or thoseworking in offices or those in private enterprise," he told the Senate committee inquiringinto the gold pass bill.
"It is so very different. Things are thrust upon us ... and that's why I emphasisethat those travel entitlements are for 20 hard years or eight parliaments, are reallypostponed benefits.
"They're a make-up for the ones that are not paid for, are not remunerated while youenjoy or at least serve that life."
Mr Lamb hit out at provisions in the bill which would make retrospective changes tothe gold card, saying that would be against all the principles of contract employment.
But Liberal Senator George Brandis took issue with Mr Lamb's argument about compensationfor the unique nature of political life, saying people rarely went into parliament formonetary reward.
"Nobody, or at least nobody who's any good, comes to this place to make money," he said.
"And I can't think of any decent professional person, for instance, who wouldn't bemaking a lot more money practising their profession than being a Member of Parliament.
"Surely the more appropriate comparison is with other public sector wage earners, seniorpublic servants."
Former Liberal senator and Gold Coast MP Kathy Sullivan, who retired at the last election,said past MPs did not use the gold pass as much as people believed.
She said in the last financial year, of the 142 people eligible for the gold pass,132 or 93 per cent, used less than $20,000 worth of travel.
In that period, many former MPs travelled to Melbourne to attend Centenary of Federationcelebrations.
"The picture is in fact that former members and senators who are life gold pass holdersdo very little travel," she said.
Many former MPs used the gold pass to do pro bono work for worthy causes and nearlyall MPs who had large gold pass bills were from remote areas, she said.
Retired Queensland Labor MP Manfred Cross said the gold pass helped compensate spousesfor the long periods MPs spent away from home.
"(My wife) would say ... she was at home when we had small children," he told the committee.
"And she regards the spouse entitlement as some compensation for all of those tripsthat she was unable to take."
AAP daw/ph/sb
KEYWORD: GOLDPASS
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