Since being discarded by voters and relegated to the backbench by new Coalition leader Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison has suffered a catastrophic financial setback.
Insiders predict that he will soon leave politics for a high-paying career in large business, or maybe become a preacher on the lucrative Christian speech circuit in the United States.
Mr Morrison’s annual PM remuneration of $549,250 was lowered substantially overnight, from $45,750 per month to $26,692 per month after tax.
Instead, he’ll have to make do with a conventional MP’s wage of $2,717 per week after taxes on his new $211,250 annual compensation.
Despite the fact that his hourly pay is still $107, compared to the minimum wage of $20.33, his daughters’ private school costs will be covered.
He also lost access to the Prime Minister’s all-expenses-paid lifestyle, as well as official residences and employees at Kirribilli House in Sydney and The Lodge in Canberra.
He could spend up to $2 million per year on expenses, including personnel costs, as Prime Minister, accruing a total of almost $600,000 between April and June 2021.
During the same time period, Bridget Archer, a backbench Liberal MP, claimed over $35,000 in total for office, travel, and staff expenses.
The Prime Minister of Australia gets one of the highest salaries in the world, ranking eighth among world leaders and around ten times the country’s median income.
Mr Morrison admitted earlier this year he didn’t know the price of milk or the cost of rapid antigen tests – but he’s about to get a sudden refresher in the cost of living.
His dramatic change in fortunes means he’ll now be confronted with the harsh realities of soaring inflation and rising interest rates.
Despite the big bucks salary he’s enjoyed since taking the PM’s role from Malcolm Turnbull in the 2018 Liberal leadership coup, the ex-PM still has a mortgage.
In his most recent entry in the register of MPs’ interests, Mr Morrison revealed he is still paying off their Port Hacking family home in Sydney’s south.
He and wife Jenny bought the three-bedroom house in 2009 for $920,000 – now estimated to be worth about $ 3million – with a loan from the Commonwealth Bank.
School fees for daughters Abbey, 14, and Lily, 12, will also eat a huge chunk out of his backbench salary.
Their elite Baptist school charges almost $36,000 a year for them both (although he does get a 10 per cent reduction for having two children enrolled), which is equal to about a quarter of his annual take-home pay.
He has also previously revealed he even has an overdraft facility with the Commonwealth Bank, as well as a couple of credit cards.
There is now speculation Mr Morrison will quickly tire of his new life as a semi-anonymous daggy dad in Sydney’s suburbs, and will yearn for a return to the limelight and a way to maximise his earnings.
New Opposition leader Peter Dutton is already braced for an early by-election in Mr Morrison’s Sydney seat of Cook in Sutherland Shire when the ex-PM decides to quit.
Mr Dutton named his new shadow Cabinet over the weekend, with no spot for Mr Morrison on the Opposition frontbench.
‘He’s gone to the back bench now; he’s not sought a position on the frontbench,’ Mr Dutton said.
‘The reality is – as we saw with Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and others right since federation – that you would expect to see a by-election at some stage.
‘But that’s an issue for Scott to work on and I’ll have those conversations with him at the appropriate time.
‘For now, I’m sure he’s concentrating on spending more time with his family, with his beautiful daughters, and just getting back to a normal life.’
A move to the US Christian speaker circuit could be the answer with guest sermons – like the one he gave at his local Horizon Pentecostal Church the day after his election loss – earning between $50,000 to $70,000 a pop in America, plus travel expenses. Some keynote speakers can command $100,000 a go in fees.
Motivational virtual video lectures over the internet are still estimated to make between $15,000 and $30,000 each, so he could do it from home.
Brian Houston, the disgraced former Hillsong Church pastor, is alleged to be making a lot of money preaching on the religious circuit in Europe.
‘On the lecture circuit, ex-PMs can earn up to $100,000 in Australia – and considerably more in America,’ according to David Straughton, a speaker industry expert.
‘These guys still have incredible connections; you’re not paying to hear them speak; you’re paying to gain access to them and the people they know.’
‘In the United States, the faith market, as the Christian speaker circuit is known, accounts for around 40% of the entire market.’
Some former leaders or prime ministers return, while others do not, so there is no clear pattern,’ according to Ian McAllister, an Australian National University lecturer.
‘According to our polls, he was the least popular party leader since we began polling in 1987.’
‘His lack of public support suggests that he will not have a bright future in politics in the medium or long term.’
Meanwhile, Labor’s Anthony Albanese’s annual compensation has increased by more than 40%, from $390,820 as opposition leader to $549,250 as Prime Minister.
Despite the Coalition’s loss of power, Mr Dutton’s pay has increased.
As the new opposition leader, his income increased from $364,406 as defense minister to $390,820.