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This photo has nothing to do with MPs receiving a pay rise…but it’s fun to imagine.
Photo © 2012 AAP/Lukas Coch
On your marks…. Get set….
Federal MPs have reportedly received a $5550 pay rise, just three months after pocketing a $44,000 salary boost.
The three per cent pay increase, which is almost double the annual inflation rate, was given by the independent Remuneration Tribunal, News Ltd reported on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard's salary will jump by $14,430 to $495,430 - nearly $130,000 a year or almost $2500 a week more than 12 months ago.
Meanwhile a backbencher will get an extra $106 a week, taking their salary to $190,550.
Combined with the pay rise awarded in March, the politicians are getting $49,640, almost $1000 a week, more than a year ago.
Greens leader Christine Milne criticised the decision.
"When the government is saying it can't afford to give people struggling on Newstart an extra $50 a week to just get up to liveable levels, and the minimum wage has only gone up $17.10 a week, a $100 a week pay rise for politicians is hardly appropriate," Ms Milne told News Ltd.
But former Labor powerbroker turned commentator Graham Richardson said politicians should be paid more.
"If you look around a couple of hundred companies, I wonder how many of them pay their chief less than a half a million dollars?" Mr Richardson said on Seven Network."I think the answer would be none.
"The Australian Prime Minister should be getting a minimum of one million dollars and ministers should be up around half a million and you should be taking backbenchers up to 250-300.
"There are 25-year-old kids walking around in merchant banks these days earning $300,000 a year."
Ok. So really, what do you think? Have our Federal MPs earned a new payrise?
Leave a comment or go to our home page to vote on tonight's web poll.
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