“Back-office functions, such as procurement and human
resources, will be consolidated… via the Government's ongoing back-office recruitment freeze” – John Robertson, 17 June 2009 

“Procurement, human resources, payroll and those sorts of support services are back office…” – John Robertson, 23 June 2009

Both Kelly and Macdonald are no longer ‘senior Ministers’ but both continue to be paid the same rate as a ‘senior Minister’ because Nathan Rees fears antagonising those who want to see him dumped from the Premiership.

“Tony Kelly was stripped of his Police and Rural Affairs portfolios but retains his enormous pay-packet because Rees feared that a hostile caucus would not remove him from the position of Leader of the House in the Legislative Council,” Mr Hartcher said.

“Ian Macdonald lost his senior Energy portfolio to John Robertson but retained his extra pay packet and seniority in Cabinet and we all know why.

“Both Macdonald and Kelly were part of the group that tried to roll Rees and replace him with John Della Bosca. Kelly is such a close ally of Della Bosca that he employed Belinda Neal as his Chief of Staff so she could run for Federal Parliament.

“Now Della Bosca is out of the Cabinet and his leadership ambitions are dead, Rees is desperately hoping McDonald and Kelly don’t find another potential leader to back.

“Mr Rees knows he has to keep them happy and quiet – well fed, but on the outer rim of the Cabinet where they pose less of a threat to his leadership.

“Nathan Rees runs a Government that serves only one constituent: Nathan Rees.

“Mr Rees needs to make the tough decisions and downgrade the remuneration status of these two downgraded Ministers, regardless of what it might mean for his leadership.

“Nathan Rees can’t use taxpayer funds to keep his enemies quiet.

“If his caucus is as fed up with him as the rest of NSW then he needs to accept that and move on.

“Most of Rees’ Cabinet don’t deserve to be there, but paying Kelly and Macdonald as ‘Senior Ministers’ when they are clearly not, is just wrong.

“They have been demoted on paper, now it’s time to demote them in real life,” he said.