What a big load of hogwash, that if we paid our policitians more we would get better quality people.

The so called better quality people that got us into the GFC,

http://www.theage.com.au/business/time-to-occupy-our-financial-hubs-20111010-1lgq9.html

Executive pay: the high cost of market failure

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/business/executive-pay-the-high-cost-of-market-failure-20111010-1lh2o.html#ixzz1aPoVMKwF

All that paying our politicans more will achieve, is that we will only attract more expensive crooks.

More productivity out of politicians, how does that work.

Pay peanuts get monkeys.

If all you've got is monkeys, all they deserve is peanuts.

It seems to me, from my observation that the bigger failure you are the better renumeration you get. A few years ago I attended my sons graduation at University. The guy handing out the Diplomas was given a rousing introduction speech & hailed as one of the great Hero's of the University. I knew the guy personally. He had been on the Boards of three Companies that had failed & thousands of people had lost their investments. So how does that work.

So, if we pay our politicians more, all the less-capable politicians will suddenly want to quit their jobs to make way for more competent people?
Pull the other one.

As far as Australia is concerned, paying our politicians more money, will just attract an even worse bunch of self-absorbed mugs than we already are right now- as the only difference of people we would be getting are people who are solely motivated by personal gain- only greedier.

The saying should instead read "If you pay MONKEYS, you get peanuts".

Daniel Bradley: If we made our politicians more efficient.

And just how do you portend to do that. I know..., have a Royal Commission.

If they were paid on their efficiency. The'd never get paid.

King Hazza: "If you pay MONKEYS, you get peanuts."

Spot on Hazza. The politicians Australia has had for the last 50 years have not been worth P!55!n @N.

We had better politicians in the 19th century, when they were paid nothing.

In addition, the current system gives us the wrong sort of politician, who moves from university to parliament, without seeing anything of real life. What we should be encouraging in politics is people who have had a successful career in society, who have retired on a good level of super, and who are looking to contribute their expertise to society.

There is one exception, which is why there should be some sort of payment, and that is the ability of a poor man to stand for parliament and represent his social group there.

However it follows logically that if the sole reason for payment of members is to allow a poor man to stand for parliament, his salary as a politician should be that of a poor man.