Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to this Act, a person who:
(a) has, whether before or after the commencement of this section, held the office of Prime Minister for a continuous period of not less than 2 years or for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 2 years;
(b) has, whether before or after the commencement of this section, ceased to be entitled to a parliamentary allowance; and
(c) has, whether before or after the commencement of this section, attained the age of 45 years;
shall be paid a retiring allowance at the rate ascertained in accordance with the scale set out in subsection (2A) during his or her life - time.
(2) Where a person who has held office as specified in paragraph (1)(a) has died or dies (either while holding office as Prime Minister or after ceasing so to hold office), and that person is survived by a spouse, the spouse shall be paid an annuity, during her or his life - time, at a rate equal to one - half of the rate of the retiring allowance calculated, in relation to the service of the former Prime Minister, in accordance with the scale set out in subsection (2A).
(2A) The rate of a retiring allowance under subsection (1) shall be ascertained in accordance with the following scale:
Period, or aggregate of periods, of service as Prime Minister | Annual amounts of retiring allowance $ |
Not less than 2 years but less than 3 years | 4,000 |
Not less than 3 years but less than 4 years | 4,500 |
Not less than 4 years but less than 5 years | 5,000 |
Not less than 5 years but less than 6 years | 5,500 |
Not less than 6 years | 6,000 |
(3) A retiring allowance or annuity under this section is payable notwithstanding that the person to whom the retiring allowance or annuity is payable is entitled to some other benefit under this Act.
(4) This section does not apply to or in respect of any person who, not having held the office of Prime Minister before 12 June 1978, commences to hold that office on or after that date.
(5) Any period in which a person holds the office of Prime Minister on or after 12 June 1978 shall not be taken into account for the purposes of the application of this section to or in respect of him or her.
(6) A person who:
(a) held the office of Prime Minister on 12 June 1978; or
(b) ceased to hold the office of Prime Minister before 12 June 1978 after having held that office for a continuous period of not less than 2 years or for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 2 years and was entitled to a parliamentary allowance on that date;
may, within 3 months after 12 June 1978, by notice in writing signed by the person and delivered personally or sent by post to the Secretary of the Finance Department, elect that this section shall not apply to and in respect of him or her and, where such an election is made, a retiring allowance is not payable under this section to the person and an annuity is not payable under this section to a spouse of the person.
(7) Any period in which a person has held the office of Prime Minister and which is taken into account for the purposes of the application of this section to or in respect of the person shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act not to be a period in which the person served as a Minister of State.