RSL deplores govt's ADF pay deal

The RSL has lashed out at the Abbott government for the below-inflation wage deal it imposed on sailors, soldiers and air force personnel.

The government outraged the Australian Defence Force members late last year by insisting on a 1.5 per cent pay increase for the next three years and cut some leave entitlements, which it later reinstated.

RSL National President Rear Admiral Ken Doolan says the national board met in Sydney on Tuesday and passed two motions "deploring" the rates of pay for the ADF and the indexation of some veterans' entitlements from 2017.

Both motions call on the federal government to amend these decisions.

"Members of the RSL expect the government to live up to their pre-election promises," Rear Admiral Doolan says in a statement.

"While they are pleased at increased funding for Defence, they are dismayed that the pay increases put before the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal did not even cover the increased cost of living of ADF personnel."

The RSL wants the government to stop requiring major ADF pay cases before the Tribunal to have been earlier agreed upon by other government bodies.

"This has resulted in the unfortunate perception that the hitherto highly regarded DFRT was no longer a neutral umpire with its status now more akin to that of a mere rubber stamp," he said.

The federal government says it has the greatest respect for ADF personnel members and wants to do the right thing for them, but cannot afford to give them any more.

"When we are burdened with a monthly interest bill of over $1 billion and debt rising to $667 billion unless we take action, it's just not feasible to borrow yet more money to pay for higher wages," a spokesperson for assistant Defence Minister Stuart Robert said.

"There is no argument that military service is unique and the government has repeatedly stated that while we would like to pay our ADF personnel more, we simply can't give what we do not have."