MP's pay rise not going down awfully well...

[Lilith7]

Oh surely not! Surely the peasants must understand how they have to guard against any possibility of their standard of living slipping even a tiny bit...


https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/political-...RP6YU7RT4/

How entitled are New Zealand’s politicians? Right now, MPs across the political spectrum look entirely out of touch in their unified stance of accepting the hefty pay increases recommended by the Remuneration Authority.
MPs should simply reject the pay increases — which they can easily do — rather than risk a legitimate public backlash from constituents who feel betrayed by an already well-paid political class that insists on austerity for others, but not themselves.
Historically, MPs have been paid at a much lower level. The role of a politician was once regarded as a vocational public service. Consequently, a backbench MP was paid at the same rate as only a senior secondary school teacher.
Then, in the 1980s, alongside the neoliberal reforms, politics was professionalised, and MPs demanded to be treated more like private sector executives. Egalitarian ideas that MPs should be “just like us” went out of fashion. The PM stopped having his phone number listed in the phone book. Regarding themselves as elite professionals, MPs felt no shame in devising new ways of calculating their pay that sent them skyrocketing. Running the country, and politics in general, was now to be done so like a business.
Politicians also enriched themselves in other ways. It became more common for MPs to invest in shares and accumulate real estate. MPs across the political spectrum made a fortune out of rising house prices. Nowadays, only a handful of politicians aren’t property owners, and it’s common for them to own multiple houses.
MP Chloe Swarbrick has spoken out strongly about MPs being “overpaid”, saying, “I feel pretty gross about it”. Now, as co-leader, she emphasised this week that pay increases shouldn’t be politicised.

And they shouldn't bloody well be happening either, Chloe. Shame on all politicians for not speaking out against this, particularly at a time when so many are struggling.