Many people who read PM Key’s statement about the need for smaller, if any pay increase to the MPs of New Zealand would think a bit before they rich in and say, ‘Great, about time!’
I do not have a gut reaction to his idea because I know that most MPs put in many hours for what can be a very transitory tenure, especially in more marginal seats or if a ‘list MP is way down the list. I do not blindly jump on some sort of ‘bash the MPS band wagon and blithely say they are all the same or that they are leaches on society. I defy anyone to come up with a better system.
What I do find a bit rich (excuse the pun, if it is one!) is that Key makes this announcement. Like---he needs a pay increase? He can afford to give most of his salary away given his financial status. I won’t go not how he earned such status but it is all very well for him to postulate re the position of many other MPs. Quite a few, and that may even include the odd National Party MP (?) have come from reasonably humble positions before entering Parliament. They do not all spring from positions of ‘advantage.’ So before PM Key shoots his mouth off about MPs not getting a rise, he needs to see the bigger picture.
I know that many reading this will have little sympathy for my treatise (That’s a bit rich, calling it that!) because they come from a position that negates the very worth of most politicians. Hell, we need them and if we have many we dislike, or have issues with, then we know what to do---without guns. Just use the ballot box and keep pressure on MPs to preform and give back to society. Key’s latest statement is merely a desperate attempt to connect with an issue he sees as ‘vote winning.’
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