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Timor troops' pay depends on danger
From: AAP
June 09, 2006

AUSTRALIAN soldiers serving in East Timor would be paid more if the security situation in the country worsened, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

But he defended the government's decision to pay the troops less than their colleagues serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the theatres of conflict were clearly different.

Australian soldiers trying to restore order in East Timor are considered to be on a mission that is not "war-like".

This means they receive a tax-free allowance of $78 a day on top of their normal salary, compared to a $150 a day bonus paid to troops in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Mr Howard said the pay situation for Timor troops was under constant review and if conditions in the fledgling nation worsened, they could be eligible for more money.

"If there is an assessment made that the situation has deteriorated further so that it can be reasonably equated to places like Iraq or Afghanistan then an adjustment will be made," he said.

But the prime minister said East Timor was not as dangerous as Afghanistan or Iraq.
"I think most Australians would agree with that," Mr Howard said.

"If the people in Timor were to be paid exactly the same as the people in Iraq or Afghanistan then there would be an argument, legitimately from the latter, that they should be paid more again because their work is, on any military assessment, more dangerous.

"Unless we are to completely obliterate the difference between theatres of operation and to say that once you go overseas with an Australian uniform any deployment is as dangerous as the next, then ... you have to have some gradation."

Mr Howard again declined to put a timeframe on Australia's troop commitment to East Timor.