Why salary freeze is astute

It’s always a strange, contortionist argument to hear an MP express disdain for their pay rise but politicians aren’t stupid.

They know what the cartoon image will be every time their yearly pay review rolls round – snouts at the trough, cash splashing out the sides.

And a fair suck of the sauv to our MPs; it’s arguable that many of them aren’t actually in it for the money – such are the private sector salaries that many could be earning if they were truly that way inclined.

That’s why it was an astute move when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced MPs’ pay would be frozen for the next year, while law changes were worked out. This was met with consensus support from across the House.

MPs’ pay is set independently by the Remuneration Authority – a system rightly designed to keep salary decisions at arm’s length.

But any MP who had the temerity to moan about the loss of a 3 per cent hike to their $175,000-plus income would quickly find themselves with a target on their back as one to watch at the next release of MPs’ expenses – that’s if their career options hadn’t already been stunted by the leader.

Such a rise would see the prime minister’s cheque boosted from $459,739 to $473,531 – dangerously close to the half-a-mill mark. It’s already more than what the ‘‘leader of the free world’’ earns, with the United States president’s salary remaining capped at $400,000.

As the head of a Cabinet engaged in trying to haggle down the pay demands of teachers, a $13,792 pay rise for Ardern would just about be enough to spark civil unrest at the next march if pay negotiations find little progress.

And it’s never a good look to have the 3 per cent pay rise of an MP vastly outstrip, in dollar terms, the 16 per cent pay rise that teachers are calling for.

But there is a flipside – MPs work extremely long hours and it’s often far from glamorous. Late nights eating alone at their desk in the Beehive, long hours on the road, and for many, days away from their families at a time. Serious sacrifices are made for the job, and the pay has to be enough to attract quality candidates.

Still, when politics is a popularity contest, it’s never wise to seem out of step with the public mood and pay rates.

There is no doubt that the 3 per cent rise the Remuneration Authority has told the Government is coming Parliament’s way, would jar against the backdrop of active pay disputes. Not to mention a minor bout of pearlclutching over National leader Simon Bridges’ inflated roadshow transport bill.

So it’s another sacrifice for MPs but don’t rush to pull out the violin.