The move to amend the Prime Minister Pension Act was triggered by the recent 50% increase in the salary and therefore pension of the Prime Minister, which made it a bigger burden on the taxpayer.

So said Attorney General John Jeremie as he contributed to the Prime Minister’s Pension (Amendment) bill 2025 in the Senate yesterday. The bill was passed in the Senate.

Jeremie said in the parent law which was passed in 1969, the salaries “even at the top end” were around $2,000 to $3,000 a month. He said 56 years later, the prime minister had moved from “somewhere around $30,000 to north of $1 million per year”.