Ben Small

We estimate Ben Small received a parliamentary salary of: $299,090

Based on the Remuneration Tribunal base salary of $239,270 plus any additional allowance for ministerial, shadow or office-holder roles held at time of generation.

• Latest quarter total: $193,754
• Office Consumables and Services: $5,186
• Printing and Communications: $62,464
• Telecommunications - Residential - Official: $843
• Telecommunications - Usage: $589
• Parking: $61
• Private-Plated Vehicle: $6,240
• COMCAR: $2,209
• Travel Allowance: $8,171
• Fares: $35,871
• Domestic Travel: $27,314
• Office Facilities - Not stated: $44,807

• Husic says Labor pile-on after Aukus criticism ‘not healthy’ – as it happened
• Liberal MP is first to be suspended from lower house in five years – as it happened
• PM says opposition ‘reduced to a farce’ as government targeted over CGT – as it happened
• Angus Taylor unveils Coalition frontbench with Tim Wilson as shadow treasurer and Nationals returned
• New leader targets immigration in first comments after spill – as it happened
• Police investigate illegal riding on Sydney Harbour Bridge – as it happened
• Senate resumes after Hanson suspended from parliament – as it happened
• Australian politicians reveal their housing portfolios, with some owning as many as six homes
• PM declines to comment on reports of other attacks orchestrated by Iran; Israel praises Australia for ‘principled stand’ – as it happened
• Burke says he’s ‘optimistic’ about security relationship with US after quiet meeting with Trump’s FBI chief – as it happened

• The Wentworth Project: ‘Soft’ voters dislike Morrison but hesitate about Albanese (2022-04-15)
  Michelle Grattan
  In the second instalment of the Wentworth Project, voters didn’t like Scott Morrison one bit. But they couldn’t think of much positive to say about Anthony Albanese.
• Grattan on Friday: Taylor’s bold budget reply is a mix of sound and dubious policy commitments (2026-05-14)
  Michelle Grattan
  With his party in deep trouble, the opposition leader decided to go big in his budget reply.
• 100 years of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: the film that inspired Virginia Woolf, David Bowie and Tim Burton (2020-02-25)
  Ben McCann
  The groundbreaking German expressionist film Cabinet of Dr. Caligari premiered in 1920. It is just as shocking – and influential – 100 years on.
• Community highlights (2016-11-04)
  The Conversation receives a lot of comments each day and you can’t read everything. That’s why we occasionally end the week with a selection of community highlights: comments we enjoyed or thought worth…
• Can the arts sector reinvent itself? (2016-10-31)
  David Pledger
  A culture of ‘managerialism’ has bled the arts of originality and purpose. We need a changed mindset and an arts and culture think-tank that is separate from the Australia Council.
• Will the new ABC Arts Council win back the arts community? (2014-04-28)
  Ben Goldsmith
  Due to Australia’s small population and high concentration of few media voices, public broadcasters play a pivotal role in shaping the media ecosystem and cultural landscape. With the ABC and SBS under…
• Post budget, we need strong cultural leaders more than ever (2015-05-13)
  Kim Goodwin
  The 2015 budget poses significant challenges to the arts sector. So why won’t cultural leaders stand up and advocate for the sector?
• FactCheck: do 99% of Newstart recipients also receive other benefits? (2019-05-16)
  Ben Phillips, Cukkoo Joseph
  Yes, most jobseekers who receive Newstart payments are also eligible for other benefits. But in many cases this is just a few dollars a fortnight to help with expenses such as electricity bills.
• Federal budget 2014: economists react (2014-05-13)
  Sinclair Davidson, Ben Phillips, Deborah Ralston, Lawrence Abeln, Remy Davison, Richard Holden
  The Abbott government has laid out its path to reach a budget surplus near the end of the decade in the face of continued below-trend growth. Stopping short of making deep cuts in the coming years, Treasurer…
• Politics with Michelle Grattan: Arthur Sinodinos with some reflections and advice (2019-09-17)
  Michelle Grattan
  As Arthur Sinodinos prepares to leave the Senate for his new role as Australian ambassador to the US, he sits with Michelle Grattan to reflect on his time in politics.
• Yes, it is our business: how corporations can help on Sustainable Development Goals (2015-09-29)
  Debbie Haski-Leventhal
  To start, businesses can stop creating problems that governments have to fix.
• Carbon tax a step towards reform, but working mothers miss out (2011-07-11)
  Miranda Stewart
  At first glance, the Federal Government’s carbon tax plan appears to carry out significant income tax rate reform in the guise of carbon price compensation. Indeed, the proposed tax rate reforms adopt…
• Australia won’t escape the fallout of the Trump trade chaos (2025-02-04)
  Scott French
  Trump’s tariffs on China could further slow the economy of Australia’s largest trading partner.
• Sydney Opera House at 50: a public appeal, a controversial build, a lavish opening – and a venue for all (2023-10-19)
  Michelle Arrow
  Fifty years ago today, after a prolonged and controversial period of construction, the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
• Study links poverty and poor decision-making (2012-11-02)
  Sunanda Creagh
  Poverty may cause people to focus too narrowly on short term needs at the expense of their long term well-being, a US study has found. The study, titled Some consequences of having too little and published…
• FactCheck Q&A: are one in three age pensioners living under the poverty line? (2016-09-26)
  Rafal Chomik
  Senator Jacqui Lambie told Q&A that a third of Australian age pensioners are living below the poverty line and that it’s estimated to rise to two-thirds within five years. Is that right?
• The carbon tax: the experts respond (2011-07-10)
  Sunanda Creagh
  The Australian government announced on Sunday it would introduce a carbon tax at $23 a tonne next July, rising 2.5% annually plus inflation and moving to a market-based emissions trading scheme in 2015…
• Photos from the field: leaving habitats unburnt for longer could help save little mammals in northern Australia (2021-11-29)
  Ben Corey, Ian Radford, Leigh-Ann Woolley
  Northern Australia’s tropical savanna is one of the most fire-prone regions on the planet. We need to change the way we manage fires so we can help native wildlife come back from the brink.
• 700 million plastic bottles: we worked out how much microplastic is in Queensland’s Moreton Bay (2024-10-08)
  Elvis Okoffo, Alistair Grinham, Ben Tscharke, Helen Bostock, Kevin Thomas
  How much microplastic does a city produce? To find out, we looked at Brisbane’s Moreton Bay, where microplastics build up without being washed away
• Where to start reading philosophy? (2016-12-23)
  Patrick Stokes, Duncan Ivison, Laura D'Olimpio, Matthew Sharpe
  Want to contemplate some big questions this summer but don’t know where to start? Here are some top picks from some of Australia’s top philosophers.
• Will $1 on your ticket help save Australian live music? A UK model is much more ambitious (2025-03-24)
  Sam Whiting, Ben Green
  The newly launched Australian Music Venue Foundation is partly modelled on the United Kingdom’s Music Venue Trust, but the UK model has a more radical approach.
• We’re launching Western Australia’s first scratch-built satellite, and it’s a giant leap towards the Moon (2021-08-26)
  Ben Hartig
  The Binar-1 mission is the first in a series that will hopefully culminate in a mission to the Moon, with satellites developed using know-how gained from designing tough instruments for the WA outback.
• How city squares can be public places of protest or centres of state control (2018-10-03)
  Majdi Faleh
  Today’s urban public spaces tend to represent governments and cities rather than people and citizens. Architects and urban designers should contribute to shaping spaces for freedom and interaction.
• Walking the line on GFC times (2013-08-27)
  Robert Marks
  Echoes of the Global Financial Crisis resonate while debate continues on the best way of dealing with its consequences, including the actions taken by the Europeans and Americans to counter its effects…
• Explainer: magical realism (2015-12-02)
  Maria Takolander
  With roots in post first world war paintings of empty European cities, magical realism has evolved into a heavily, and ironically, political literary form.
• How we can reduce dependency on opioid painkillers in rural and regional Australia (2017-08-09)
  Ben O'Mara
  Dependency on opioid painkillers reflects what we already know about life in the small towns of Australia - people tend to have poorer health.
• Cane toads are hopping towards the Pilbara, but a water-free containment zone could stop them (2025-11-10)
  Judy Dunlop, Ben Phillips, Tim Dempster
  Cane toads will reach Broome in the next couple of years. Creating a waterless “containment zone” is the only way to stop them pillaging the Pilbara.
• The Smallest Stage is an intricately crafted play for families about incarceration – and the power of stories (2022-02-25)
  Leah Mercer
  While spending two years in Dartmoor prison, Kim Crotty wrote and illustrated 47 stories for his sons, desperately seeking to maintain his connection with his family.
• Climate change has already made Australians in one state much poorer, and more’s to come (2026-06-09)
  Timothy Neal, Ben Newell
  It’s time to recognise climate change for what it is. A new study shows it’s a current and ongoing threat to our standard of living.
• What might a ‘Brexit’ mean for the Anglosphere – and Australia? (2016-03-13)
  Ben Wellings
  Despite its distance from Europe, Euroscepticism can be observed in Australia. What would a ‘Brexit’ from the EU mean for Australia?