Friday 11 December 2009

State MPs get a 3.1% pay rise

Cairns politicians Desley Boyle, Curtis Pitt, Steve Wettenhall and Jason O'Brien will get an early Christmas present after they awarded themselves a 3.1% pay rise today.

Their base salary will now be $130,000 a year. O'Brien, who represents one of the largest five electorates, will receive an additional 2% in his allowances budget, plus $10,000 for flight allowances.

Shadow ministers will get a $4,000 rise in allowances, and the Opposition will get another vehicle.

The Speaker of Queensland Parliament John Mickelstops told the ABC that a pay rise for parliamentarians is fair.

"I simply say to the community that there has been a wages freeze for two-and-a-half years ... even with this increase, the Premier of Queensland will receive less than half of what a newsreader receives on one of our channels for reading the news on a weekend."

What an odd comparison.

As you can imagine, the Electrical Trades Union says it proves the Government does not need to sell assets like sections of Queensland Rail.

"If the budget is in that good a position that the premier can give a pay rise to those people, then perhaps she needs to go away and look hard at those facts and figures that the union movement has provided her on why the asset sale isn't needed and should have a good long hard look at them and reverse her decision," Jason Young said.

Wonder what they're going to give us for Christmas? Are they going to work 3% harder for us?

2 comments:

hieronymus bosch said...

So our retarded cllrs will be getting a pay rise too, since they get 80% (?) of what state members get.

I'd happily see Bryan Law get paid this as mayor tho. Imagine, if you will, the big man meeting swimming out to tell the latest yank(er) cruise destroyer to fuck off.

Dude, my pay has gone up less than 7% in 14 years.

Shoulda stuck at the public trough job i had back then, but I couldn't stand the wankers like factman.

H.Bosch, Colony of Qld, 2009.

Henry Poyntz said...

That's below the inflation rate isn't it?