Time to quit your job. Tony Abbott pays his gardener $200,000 a year.

If your calling wasn’t weeding and pruning hedges before – it is now.

The Prime Minister’s department has awarded a lucrative $600,000 three-year contract to a company to maintain Tony Abbott’s lawn at Kirribilli house.

So pretty much $200,000 per year to do something that the kid down the road does for $5 an hour since the dawn of time.

The lucky gardeners are a company known as VIP Home Services. We didn’t realise there were gardeners for Very Important People but now we know better.

The company will maintain lawns, gardens, trees and shrubs; give advice about possible improvements that can be made; keep paved areas and gutters clean and tidy; and maintain outdoor furniture. They will also be asked to help set up for parties and functions.

Read more about Tony: “Coming out in your 40s when you’re Tony Abbott’s sister.”

The Prime Minister’s Department have explained the need for the outlay: “As the garden and grounds have significant heritage values and are listed on the Commonwealth Heritage List, the Commonwealth is obliged under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 to ensure that its heritage values are preserved for future generations.”

So, like any tenants of a rental property, they’ve got to keep it nice. No problem.

Some financial types have calculated how much previous governments spent on their gardening services, only to discover Tony Abbott is living large.

It has been pointed out that John Howard was only charging $90,000 annually.

Labor’s waste watchmen, Pat Conroy, says Tony’s prices are ridiculous.

“It’s not just the fertiliser that stinks at the Prime Minister’s house,” Mr Conroy told Fairfax Media

“Tony Abbott has doubled the price of the gardening contract for his Sydney residence and this is in addition to the luxury renovations inside Kirribilli House.”

Forget your fancy degrees – turns out the good money is in gardening.

Do you think that’s too much to pay the gardener?