Senator Barnaby Joyce caused quite some debate this week, when he suggested that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's salary should be tripled to a million dollars. The suggestion came as the government accepted a 3 per cent pay rise for all federal politicians. Senator Joyce reckons politicians' pay packets should equal those of business leaders, in order to attract good people into the job. But a lot of politicians disagree - including Mr Rudd, who says he's perfectly happy with the $340,000 a year that he's on. Stephen Jones, the National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, spoke to us this week about the wages different MPs earn - from backbenchers on $130,000 to cabinet ministers on $250,000. He also pointed out that departmental secretaries earn almost double what their bosses (cabinet ministers) earn. Their salaries are around $440,000.
Let's hear your views on how much politicians get paid...
• The Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said paying MPs more would cause them to lose touch with the ordinary community. Do you agree? Should politicians pay packets remain at a modest level?
• Stephen Jones explained that even Cabinet Ministers get paid less than their own department heads. Do you think that's fair or not?
• Some politicians think a pay rise is in order; Liberal MP (Mal Washer) thinks that freezing their pay would eventually lead to "halfwits" being attracted to parliament, as all the talented people are taken up by jobs that pay well... What do you think?
• Maybe there should be better incentive to enter the tough world of politics. I'm sure there's many men and women in the corporate and academic sectors who could do very well as a politicians, but aren't prepared for the pay cut that comes with it... Maybe if the pay was comparable to that of the business world, more talented people would be attracted into the job.
• What do you think of the Prime Minister's pay packet of $340,000. Is that enough? He says he's not interested in a million dollar pay packet, but of course he's going to say that... Do you think the man in the top job should get paid more?
• Is modest pay a good deterrent for people who would get into politics for the wrong reasons, or is it just keeping good talented
Comments (1)
By some measures, the role of Prime Minister is the most important job in Australia. It involves dealing with issues of great importance, working long hours, high levels of stress and many personal and family sacrifices.
What is the monetary value of all this? I don't know, but when compared to jobs of similar importance, workload, stress etc., I tend to think it is more than $340,000.
High corporate salaries are often justified by the need to "attract the best people for the job". While aspirants of the PM job will often be attracted because of the social good or importance of the role, there is some weight to suggestions that we should take a similar approach to attracting pollies.
I say about politicians pay ... too much or too little? Too little!
[I don't agree with Lindsay Tanner's suggestion that paying politicians more will cause them to lose touch with the ordinary community. No politician is in the same situation as each member of the electorate. Politicians, therefore, must work hard to understand the situations of their constituents. This is the case in relation to different standards of living, but it does not mean that pollies need to live the exact same existences as everyone in the community - it's not possible.]
Posted by Jarryd | September 28, 2009 12:15 AM
Posted on September 28, 2009 00:15