The reported offer of an extra staff role to One Nation MP David Farley prompted party leader Pauline Hanson to accuse Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of seeking political influence.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a member of Albanese’s team delivered a letter approving an additional hire to Farley’s Parliament House office on Oct. 26. The paper said the position was classified as Adviser 3 (non-ministerial).
The Commonwealth Members of Parliament Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024–27 sets a maximum annual base salary of A$160,043 for that classification from Aug. 5, 2026. It also allows for a personal staff allowance of up to A$35,387. Those two published maximums add up to A$195,430 a year, but the materials do not establish the role’s actual salary or cost.
The Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 allows parliamentarians to employ staff on behalf of the Commonwealth. Under Department of Finance guidance, the prime minister sets personal staff allocations for minority-party leaders, who may then distribute posts among their party’s members. These personal staff positions are separate from electorate officer roles.
The Guardian quoted Hanson as saying Farley had not requested the position and that no reason was given. She described the offer as an attempt to “exert undue political influence over politicians.” The Guardian reported that Farley rejected the offer; the Sydney Morning Herald said he rejected the allocation while broader negotiations were pending.
The prime minister’s office was contacted for comment, The Guardian reported. The Sydney Morning Herald said the office did not answer its questions about the reason for Farley’s allocation and reported that Special Minister of State Don Farrell defended the prime minister’s broader role in staffing decisions.
The dispute over allocations predates the reported offer. ABC News reported on Sept. 17 that Hanson, independent Sen. Fatima Payman and independent MP Dai Le called for fairer staffing allocations and said they would seek legislation to remove the prime minister’s allocation power if their demands were not met.
