WA Agent General John Langoulant’s costly pay package has been revealed

The WA Government’s representative in the UK and Europe gets $264,000 a year in rent assistance for his London apartment on top of a base salary of $360,000, which combined is far more than what the Premier makes annually. John Langoulant’s wage and allowances this week came under scrutiny after the former business executive and WA under treasurer was dragged into a controversy engulfing his NSW counterpart. WhatsApp messages revealed NSW Agent General Stephen Cartwright complained his $600,000 salary, including expenses, wasn’t enough to fund his family’s lifestyle in London, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. “All other AGs and Fed Govt execs have rent, car and school fees covered by their govt,” Mr Cartwright wrote to the then NSW trade minister Stuart Ayres in March this year. “The WA Govt is paying 13,500 pounds per month rent — that’s more than my entire net salary!” Mr Cartwright said “something has to be done” and suggested he would have to consider his role if his requests for more lucrative entitlements were not met. The Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation clarified for The West Australian that Mr Langoulant actually received £13,000 ($22,000) a month in rent assistance. It said this amount was based on market conditions in London for an apartment near to work that can also be used for meetings. Mr Langoulant pays an extra £450 ($760) per month to cover a “current gap” in rental expenses. Unlike some other states, the WA Government does not own a residential property in the United Kingdom. While it’s not known exactly where Mr Langoulant’s $264,000-a-year rental apartment is located, his workplace is Australia Centre, home to the High Commission of Australia on the Strand in central London. In addition to Mr Langoulant’s $360,000 base salary — only $6000 less than what Mark McGowan is paid — he also receives $86,800 in “allowances associated with deployment costs and disruption related to posting in host location”, as well as a car. This brings his package to at least $710,000. The department said these types of allowances were “standard for State and Territory representatives fulfilling a role internationally”. Last October, Mr Langoulant was nominated to a three-year term as WA’s representative in the UK and Europe, with responsibility for promoting trade and investment, by the McGowan Government, with the appointment rubberstamped by then Governor Kim Beazley. “As one of the State’s most highly respected business leaders, with extensive experience across a range of sectors, Mr Langoulant is an influential advocate for the State’s key and emerging industries,” the department said. “Mr Langoulant also has decades of experience across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, extensive knowledge of the WA economy and industries, and considerable experience undertaking reviews to support government reform agendas.” WA’s investment and trade commissioners are appointed through a merit-based recruitment process, which is open to existing WA public sector employees for a period of three years, with a possible two-year extension. Nashid Chowdhury was posted to Chennai in India for the India-Gulf region in June, Krista Dunstan was deployed to Singapore for the ASEAN region last October, the same month Nicole Fasana was sent to Tokyo in Japan to cover North East Asia. They are each paid $167,015 a year, as well as allowances that range from $41,000 to $67,000 and rental assistance which costs $16,962 per month in Tokyo and $9659 per month in Singapore, plus cars. WA’s trade commissioner to China, Juan Lu, was appointed in February 2021 but is still stuck in Perth due to the Chinese government’s COVID restrictions. “The salary and allowances of WA Investment and Trade Commissioners is commensurate, and in some cases, significantly less than other States,” the department added.