Winter break

[Booney]

Pollies staff do all the work anyway.

No different to any work place where a boss ( or the pollie in this instance ) is advised / supported by their staff.

Not sure what you're trying to tell us here.

[Psyber]

At state level, I can tell you Isobel Redmond is at times getting SMS messages (and responding to them) at 3 or 4am when issues blow up.
Even between crises her mobile is always on, at the bedside, when she is sleeping - just in case..

When she told me about that at a meeting lately I was glad I hadn't gone into politics when I thought about it back in 1996.
It is not the way I would want to live - I had enough of that sort of thing in my earlier medical career.

[FlyingHigh]

You're taking her word for it - you haven't personally experienced it?

Just checking.

[GWW]

Seems strange that she has to respond to things at 3am - she's not in Govt, surely anything she receives could be followed up 4 or 5 hours later.

A lot of what MPs do is based around playing political games anyway - eg. "digging up dirt" - and not particularly constructive for their constituents.

[Psyber]

You're taking her word for it - you haven't personally experienced it?
Just checking.

Taking her word for it..
Although she did bring up a list of SMS messages received one night to show me a sample of the times, after I'd expressed my horror at the effect on living.

GWW - apparently some of the bigger players just keep texting until they get a response.
There are always those people who never seem to sleep - I'd kill them before they killed me!

[FlyingHigh]

Hang in Psyb

Agree, who'd want to live like that. I'd never be able to sleep in anticipation, and then not sleep afterwards stewing over the message and my response.
And like GWW said, aside from a massive natural disaster, what could be that important that it couldn't wait till morning, no matter if you were gov or opposition? Except the self-importance of certain people by the sounds.

[The Sleeping Giant]

Pollies staff do all the work anyway.

No different to any work place where a boss ( or the pollie in this instance ) is advised / supported by their staff.

Not sure what you're trying to tell us here.

That they don't work hard.

You are a bit slow on the uptake sometimes booney.

[Booney]

Pollies staff do all the work anyway.

No different to any work place where a boss ( or the pollie in this instance ) is advised / supported by their staff.

Not sure what you're trying to tell us here.

That they don't work hard.
You are a bit slow on the uptake sometimes booney.

Depends on what you call "work hard". From what I know many pollies do 70+ hours a week, hard work in anyones book.

Slow on the uptake or think you're full of shit. Up to you to decide.

[Psyber]

Depends on what you call "work hard". From what I know many pollies do 70+ hours a week, hard work in anyones book.
Slow on the uptake or think you're full of shit. Up to you to decide.

There is a lot of commitment to going to community functions at weekends and evenings too.
It is hard on the family life.

That said, I do wonder about what motivates people to take it on at all.
I was interested, from the point of view of doing what I believed would be good for society as a whole, until I realised what it would cost me in lifestyle.
(And that my wife wanted no part in becoming public property.)

[The Sleeping Giant]

Pollies staff do all the work anyway.

No different to any work place where a boss ( or the pollie in this instance ) is advised / supported by their staff.

Not sure what you're trying to tell us here.

That they don't work hard.
You are a bit slow on the uptake sometimes booney.

Depends on what you call "work hard". From what I know many pollies do 70+ hours a week, hard work in anyones book.

Slow on the uptake or think you're full of shit. Up to you to decide.

30hrs of work.... maybe, and 40hrs of free dinners, travel and screwing people over.

Luckily, I'm not concerned by what you think.

[Booney]

30hrs of work.... maybe, and 40hrs of free dinners, travel and screwing people over.

Luckily, I'm not concerned by what you think.

I didn't realise you were so close to a politician and understood their work load.

[Gozu]

30hrs of work.... maybe, and 40hrs of free dinners, travel and screwing people over.

And don't forget counting numbers

[The Sleeping Giant]

30hrs of work.... maybe, and 40hrs of free dinners, travel and screwing people over.

Luckily, I'm not concerned by what you think.

I didn't realise you were so close to a politician and understood their work load.

I may know someone who works in the "industry".

Gozu, the screw people over comment was including each other also. ;-)

[Gozu]

FEDERAL MPs have been given a $5500 boost to their salary, barely four months after winning a $44,000 pay rise.

The 3 per cent pay rise, quietly handed down this week, is almost double the inflation rate and is being derided by one senior figure as the "pollies' own carbon tax compo".

A backbencher will get an extra $106 a week, taking their salary to $190,550. Along with the March pay rise our 226 MPs are getting an average $49,640 - almost $1000 a week - more than at this time last year.

The politicians' pay bonanza comes at the same time the nation's lowest-paid workers receive an extra $17.10 a week or $890 a year.

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," Senator Milne said.

"If the nation can afford this, it can afford to help our poorest people."

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/politicia ... 6416180332

[mick]

Targeted Carbon Tax compensation

[tipper]

where can i sign up for two pay rises in three months???

[Psyber]

I am tempted to see if I can muster the people to form a new political party whose primary objective will be to halve our own salaries as soon as we take office.
The secondary objective will be to tackle the issue of obscene salaries paid to CEOs in private industry and certain other individuals - perhaps via the taxation system.
Anyone willing to join?

Oh and how about Graham Richardson: http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/lat ... -pay-rise/

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."

I also can't help wondering whether Christine Milne is now going to donate her rise to charity...

[Jimmy_041]

I was thinking the same thing about Christine Milne Psyber.
I do agree with Graham Richardson though.
Pay peanuts - you get monkeys.

[once_were_warriors]

I was thinking the same thing about Christine Milne Psyber.
I do agree with Graham Richardson though.
Pay peanuts - you get monkeys.

Pay more peanuts , get fatter monkeys.

[Psyber]

I was thinking the same thing about Christine Milne Psyber.
I do agree with Graham Richardson though.
Pay peanuts - you get monkeys.

Pay more peanuts , get fatter monkeys.

As I once told Alexander Downer - face to face - I think we made a mistake in 1901 when we agreed to pay politicians.