Australian public salaries go stratospheric: High salaries widen the divide, from an editorial in The Australian.

Corporate salaries often defy logic and reward negotiating power as much as value. But while citizens may object to the money earned by bank chief executives, for example, unless they are shareholders they have no say in the matter. …

In Australia among full time workers, the average wage in 2013 was $72,800, but this is inflated by huge salaries of a small number of very high earners. The median full-time wage in 2011 was $57,400, a better measure of the typical wage. Wages are going up about 2% per year, so these figures aren’t much different in 2016.

The $3.6 million awarded NBN boss Bill Morrow last financial year is hugely out of synch with elected leaders, with the Prime Minister on $517,504. …

The Future Fund also has been generous, with three employees earning between $1.058m and $1.235m. …

The senior executive service (SES) officers who sit below departmental heads and their deputies: Last year, 113 people in the SES received an average of about $400,000 a year; 528 earned around $300,000; and 1,897 earned an average of $238,782.

These officers undoubtedly have substantial responsibility, but their salaries have skyrocketed in the past decade …

For other Australians who have seen their incomes flatline in recent times, these high salaries add to the loss of trust in government that fuels populist sentiment here and abroad.