My peers are high achievers (and they are those that you would entrust to do government work because they are doing a darn fine job and are real public servants at heart). I am not as high achieving but a difference of 2 appointment levels is a big gulf at senior levels. I might not reach that level even if I work another 10 years. I was behind my peers when I joined and from the looks of it, the gap is likely to widen.

If you count salary per hour, we might not be too different because I put in very long hours now. my pte sector stint was the best - 8 hours workday and I was paid well (I crossed 100k before I was 30).