sign in sign up
<<
Home , James McHale, Jon Faine, Juanita Phillips, Leigh Sales, Quentin Dempster, Virginia Trioli

On air and off, the ABC spares no expense on its stars

• SARAH MARTIN • • NOVEMBER 20, 2013 12:00AM

Q&A and host Tony Jones leads the ABC pack of broadcasters with a salary of over $350,000.Source: Supplied THE ABC is paying eight broadcasters more than $250,000 a year, with Q&A and Lateline host Tony Jones leading the pack on an annual salary of more than $350,000. The Australian can reveal details of the pay packets of individual employees at the national broadcaster after obtaining internal payroll information for the past five years. The ABC has been attempting to block release of pay information relating to its top-rating presenters for the past three years, fighting a Freedom of Information request lodged in 2010 by the Herald and Weekly Times, which is owned by News Corp Australia, publisher of The Australian. The ABC received $1.03 billion of taxpayer funds last financial year, of which $465 million was spent on wages, superannuation and other entitlements. The salary documents obtained by The Australian contain a breakdown of $453m spent in 2011-12 on 5511 employees. Jones is the public broadcaster's highest-paid presenter, earning $355,789 in basic pay last year, but he is yet to hit the pay level reached by former long- serving 7.30 Report host Kerry O'Brien, who earned $365,246 in 2009-10, according to the documents. Only the organisation's managing director, , chief operating officer David Pendleton and then director of television Kim Dalton are listed as earning more than Jones. Scott's basic pay is recorded in the documents at $678,940, but with bonuses it is listed in the ABC's latest annual report as $773,787. Pendleton is listed as earning $362,838, while Dalton, who was replaced by Richard Finlayson as director of television in April, was earning $359,238. The 7.30 presenter - credited for reinvigorating the flagship current affairs program following O'Brien's departure - is ranked eight journalists behind Jones, as the ABC's 18th-highest earner on $280,400 a year. The documents show co-hosts on some programs are paid vastly different amounts. ABCTV Breakfast hosts earns $235,664 - about $84,000 more than co-host Michael Rowland on $151,006. NSW weeknight news anchor is the broadcaster's second highest earning presenter on $316,454. Long-serving ABC journalist and presenter of Stateline in NSW, , is listed with an annual total salary of $291,505. Former Media Watch presenter Jonathon Holmes, who had expressed opposition to the release of ABC salary information, was earning $187,380 as host of the weekly 15-minute program before he was replaced by Paul Barry in July. The program's executive producer, Lin Buckfield, is on $146,000. The corporation's top-earning radio presenters are Sydney Drive's Richard Glover and Mornings' , earning $290,000 and $285,249 respectively. Former political editor Christopher Uhlmann is reported as earning $255,400 last year and 's Breakfast host Fran Kelly is on $255,000. ABC's online political editor is on $217,426. The documents reveal an erratic approach to the pay rates of the broadcaster's highest profile presenters, and is certain to lead to wage demands from employees as staff seek to redress perceived inequities. It may also spark wage claims at rival public broadcaster SBS as that station's presenters compare pay packets. Today's revelation of the broadcaster's salary payments will also stoke rivalries across state borders, with equivalent positions in each state varying wildly. ABC News weeknight anchors in Adelaide and Perth earn less than a third of their Sydney counterparts. Adelaide- based anchor Jessica Harmsen is on $104,007 and Perth-based James McHale is on $102,166. The data also reveals the ABC's large wage spend in NSW compared with the rest of the country. More than $214m of the $453m national wage bill is spent at Ultimo in inner Sydney. The ABC has argued against releasing the salary information on the grounds that it is contrary to public interest and is connected to confidential programming material. Mr Scott has previously argued that because the public broadcaster pays less than the commercial networks, revealing the salaries of its employees would make it more difficult to retain quality staff. Former ABC managing director has said the broadcaster should adhere to the principle of transparency.