Peter Coleman in the Preface to, "The Costello
Memoirs," wrote the following about politicians:

"Whatever they may say, most of them do not go
into Parliament to bring about particular reforms;
they go in because they find the life is irresistible.
They want to be in it all their lives. They enjoy its
exhilarating highs and take its miserable (and tedious)
lows in their stride. They face long years in the
wilderness with equanimity. They take for granted the
slander of fools. They also believe that the voters will
get it right in the end. Their day will come. They are
politicians in the way others are poets. They can't help
themselves."

Be that as it may. What is a bit rich - is that with so
many cuts being made in the services sectors including
public service job cuts - it's not a good look for
politicians to give themselves salary increases at a time
when they are asking the public to tighten their belts.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/victorian-state-mps-award-themselves-secret-payout-deals/story-e6frf7kx-1226638281880

spindoc: The office of US president is not about remuneration its about the exercising of political power. The $400K pay is a token, those who seek the position would be willing to "pay" to hold such power.
In Australia the pay rates for MP's and their perks seems just about right. Being a responsible position as it is, not a 9 yo 5 job and again there a differences of effort from one MP to another. Some members are very committed and work very hard for their constituency, these are members from all sides of politics.
If any politicians could gripe about their pay and conditions its those at the top PM, opposition leader, state premiers etc. Again these people don't take on the position simply for the pay, if they did then they are in the wrong job. I may not agree with Abbott or O'Farrell when it comes to their politics, but they certainly put in the effort when it comes to the job.

My wife just read that and asks “what on earth is she going to do when she grows up?”
spindoc,
she'll probably become a librarian or similar.

Dear Individual,

Librarians are novel lovers. :-)

>>she'll probably become a librarian or similar<<

And Lord knows you can't trust people who read books. All those words will fry your brain, right individual?

I think librarians are some of the best people around. They maintain large collections of books in a nice orderly fashion and they let you take them home and read them for FREE. What's not to like about librarians?

>>Is this justified? What do posters think?<<

If I want a pay rise I have to show my boss why I am worth the extra cost to his business. Politicians bosses are the public but they don't have to show us why they're worth the extra cost to the taxpayer - they just go ahead and give themselves a raise. Given how lacklustre their performances have been lately I don't think they deserve any sort of raise - possibly a pay cut.

Cheers,

Tony

Spindoc, I don't need my husband to respond to any negative comments on me on this forum. I'm mature enough to deal with them on my own.

You could maybe find a book in your local library that would help you deal with conflict resolution?

Amazingly, as a teenager, I actually did want to be a librarian, but changed my mind later and became a nurse instead.

I liked the idea of being able to give needles to people...

When the politicians agree to pay nurses a more substantial pay rise, I will be more agreeable to them asking for one themselves!