The Green Party is disappointed with the outcome of a review into MP pay that is likely to still increase politicians’ pay beyond the wages of other working New Zealanders.
“The plan is to revert to an older system for setting MP pay through the Remuneration Authority”, Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said today.
“While this should prevent the sort of sharp increases in MP payments we’ve seen recently, it’s still not good enough.
“It’s disappointing when we could be bringing MP pay in line with annual wage changes experienced by New Zealanders generally.
Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson says increases in MP pay shine a light on growing inequality.
“We need to be bolder. We shouldn’t be tinkering around the edges with changes that only marginally slow the exponential rate of MP pay growth.
“We froze MP wages last year to review this important issue and essentially nothing has come from that review. For us this is a wasted opportunity.
“The Green Party will look at what amendments we can propose to the legislation to link MP wage changes in line with what other New Zealanders experience whether they be up or down”.
