I was on ABC Radio National breakfast this morning, chatting with the razor-sharp Alison Carabine about politicians' pay. The decision is in the hands of the Remuneration Tribunal, but I thought it'd be worth discussing the economic evidence, which I tried to summarise in this 2009 AFR oped.
One of the frustrations I have about this debate is that it tends to operate mostly at the level of anecdotes and cliches (eg. 'pay peanuts - get monkeys', 'bigger honeypot - more bees', 'hey, wouldn't it be cool if the PM had a 7-figure salary?'). So while it's a risky discussion for a sitting MP to enter into, I figured it was worth adding some empirical evidence into the mix.
Here's the podcast. I also did an interview with 2UE's David Oldfield on the same topic, but alas, they don't have podcasts on their website.
Update: ABC 666 and the Canberra Times have articles on the same theme.
One of the frustrations I have about this debate is that it tends to operate mostly at the level of anecdotes and cliches (eg. 'pay peanuts - get monkeys', 'bigger honeypot - more bees', 'hey, wouldn't it be cool if the PM had a 7-figure salary?'). So while it's a risky discussion for a sitting MP to enter into, I figured it was worth adding some empirical evidence into the mix.
Here's the podcast. I also did an interview with 2UE's David Oldfield on the same topic, but alas, they don't have podcasts on their website.
Update: ABC 666 and the Canberra Times have articles on the same theme.
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