Billionaire Anthony Pratt’s hiring of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews raises questions about the ethics of what high-office holders should and shouldn’t do after politics, corporate and political experts say.

It has prompted calls for both the raising of the controversial pension for retired politicians and also the idea that MPs should potentially pledge to not use public office for private gain post career.

Pratt, who is no stranger to courting politicians, is reportedly paying Morrison and Andrews $100,000 each for their consulting services.

Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance at the UNSW Business School, said that one solution to the problem could be to boost the pay and pension of former parliamentarians.

“It’s an unpopular opinion, but I regard politicians as being underpaid for the type of job they are doing,” he said.

“It’s a brutal job. You’ve got the instability and the workload, and how personally aggressive and angry the attacks on politicians are from both sides.”

Mark Kenny, director of ANU’s Centre for Australian Studies, said he suspected higher pay would instead increase former politicians’ corporate hiring price.

Instead, he suggested a pledge to not use public office for private gain after leaving office would be a good, although not perfect, start.

“If we look at Pratt and [his company] Visy, they are purchasing that profile, gravitas and public recognition, but also purchasing that politician’s ability to open doors,” he said.

“They’re buying access to the machine, the inside running towards putting their case to government and putting their products or services forward in a way that is going to be attractive.”

Politicians who retired before 2004 still have access to a lucrative pension scheme of more than $100,000 a year, which is “unconsciously above community standards”, according to Kenny. It still costs taxpayers about $350 million each year.

Ethical concerns

Government lobbying for defence and energy companies can be a lucrative business for ex-politicians such as Christopher Pyne and Bob Carr.

But Kenny said it was important that a system wasn’t created where politicians didn’t bow out of Parliament when they became burned out or lost passion for their jobs, solely because of the financial implications.

Ex-Liberal minister Christopher Pyne went on to a lucrative career in defence contracting. Photo: AAP

“It’s in the public interest that we get an influx of new talent into Parliament,” he said.

“It seems to me, however, that the balance is wrong at the moment, as it has been for a while, with too many people entering into arrangements which are going to raise eyebrows on basic normal community standards.”

He said spending $100,000-$200,000 on a political consultant could be a good business if it landed your company multimillion-dollar government contracts, but it raised questions about ethics.

“When someone leaves a significant senior portfolio and then pops up in a major company, it may be a resources minister who ends up working for BHP or Rio Tinto, that looks pretty iffy to voters,” Kenny said.

“We have a requirement for people to make declarations for anything that may be a conflict of interest, but once they leave politics, then Parliament has lost its direct employer relationship.”

After politics

Although some politicians may have previous careers to fall back on, such as Kooyong MP Dr Monique Ryan’s medical career, many try to make the most of their vast connections and understanding of government.

Humphery-Jenner said that companies like Visy would often hire a politician from each side of politics, just as Pratt has.

“Dan Andrews and Scott Morrison aren’t the most popular figures, so there is some risk involved and they need to be alloyed strategically to get the most value,” he said.

“Dan Andrews has seemingly been able to fall onto his feet after politics, but Scott Morrison appears to have had difficulties translating into a non-politics role.”

He said that despite periodic suggestions of banning consulting gigs, it was hugely difficult to police.

“It’s important to make sure that future interactions between the ex-politicians and the government are above board and done at an appropriate arm’s length,” he said.

“It does raise the question of how do you make a living after politics? That is something that Scott Morrison, in particular, had to confront.”