The Prime Minister's annual salary will top half a million dollars for the first time as part of a pay rise for federal MPs.
The Remuneration Tribunal announced on Thursday that all MPs were entitled to a pay rise of 2.4 per cent from July 1 and it has left open the door for a further increase within the next 12 months.
The tribunal - an independent statutory body - said its recommendation was below the trend in wages growth over the past year and it had taken a ''conservative and incremental approach'' based on ''a slowing in wage movements in the community as well as uncertainty regarding economic growth''. The pay rise means the base annual salary of an MP goes from $190,555 to $195,128.
Once the increase takes effect Prime Minister Julia Gillard will receive $507,338 a year and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan will get $440,016 a year.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will be paid $360,990 a year and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anna Burke, will take home $341,477 a year.
Cabinet ministers will be paid a salary of $336,599 and opposition spokesmen will receive $243,912 a year.
This is the fourth pay rise for MPs since October 2009.
Ms Gillard said in Perth: ''The remuneration for members of Parliament is set entirely independently of government and of members of Parliament. I think that is appropriate that we don't have a political process. We have a non-political process.''
Last year the federal government changed the rules regarding MPs' pay.
Parliament now no longer has the power to reject or approve pay raises. Instead, the pay rises are automatic.
In a statement announcing the pay rise, the tribunal said it ''considers it important that remuneration in its jurisdiction is maintained as appropriate levels over the longer term to attract and retain people of the calibre required for these important high level offices''.
