Daniel Pastorelli paid out eye-watering $345k when he left senior staffing role after election to Parliament

Roger Cook’s former right-hand man, and current Cabinet secretary — Daniel Pastorelli — was paid an eye-watering $345,000 when he left his senior staffing role after his election to Parliament in March. Mr Cook’s former chief-of-staff, who quit after he won the seat of Landsdale, received the payout before walking into his $248,000-a-year job as an MP and Cabinet secretary. Under the pay agreement for staffers, those leaving as a result of a reshuffle or the end of a term are entitled to four weeks salary plus two weeks salary for each year of continuous service, and any accrued leave entitlements. Mr Pastorelli worked as a staffer for 16 years, starting out with now Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti and later working with Mr Cook and his predecessor Mark McGowan. New Labor MPs Ron Sao and Klasey Hirst also received payouts of $112,000 and $52,000 respectively after leaving their roles in ministerial offices. They were among 34 term-of-government staffers who left their roles after the election, pocketing more than $3 million. It includes nine staffers for Libby Mettam and Shane Love, who lost their titles as Liberal and Opposition leaders to newcomer Basil Zempilas. Among the highest payouts included three staff members to Mr Cook — $243,000 for special adviser Kieran Murphy, $184,000 for his former policy director Dave Coggin and $183,000 to his ex-deputy chief-of-staff, Veronica Jeffery. All up, eight members of Mr Cook’s staff took payouts. The figures were revealed under Parliamentary questioning, from new Liberal MP Anthony Spagnolo, who once served as a staffer himself. “The Honourable Member would be aware of these circumstances, given he received a termination payment following the 2017 State Election, and again in 2019 following the conclusion of his employment in the Leader of the Liberal Party’s office,” Mr Cook’s response stated. It comes amid sweeping changes across the ministerial ranks, with former lobbyist Daniel Smith brought in as Mr Cook’s new chief-of-staff.

Daniel Pastorelli paid out eye-watering $345k when he left senior staffing role after election to Parliament

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