#110 - Lynette, that page you linked is incredibly out of date. MPs do not get these salaries for life. They used to, once they served a certain number of years, but that went out in the late 90's and a super scheme was set up instead. I'm not saying that MPs are hard done by, only that the data you linked to and the perks listed there are mostly GONE.

But if you read this page, you'll see that in real terms, they get twice as much as that stated above and for the rest of their lives.......

http://crash.ihug.co.nz/~grums/perks.html

#101... I'm curious.... no idea on what? And you're saying people who don't earn much have no idea? You don't need to have money to have an educated opinion, and quite frankly any PM who says there is no need to raise minimum wage, then accepts a 400k pay packet, when already comfortably wealthy, is a disgusting hypocrite. Get ready to tighten your belts people, the MP's are hungry!!!!

An absolute kick in the teeth for those of us struggling to make ends meet and to feed our kids. My husband is a government employee and has had no pay rise in 4 years and has recently been told not to expect one anytime soon. So their wages haven't kept up with inflation? Well, boo freaking hoo - neither have most NZer's wages. They need to suck it up and tighten their belts just like the rest of us. At the moment I am not particularly interested in voting. But I would consider giving my vote to the party that refuses this pay rise.

Volkade - we need responsible, bright people n charge. Why would someone take minimum wage to run a country when they can earn top dollars elsewhere?

And who are you to suggest that nobody needs that much money? It's not always about them, some people just want the best for their family. Heck I would happily take that wage - it would mean financial security, decent schooling and private health care as well as being able to take holidays in nice places.

And people need to read! This is an independent authority who have made this change. If you're not happy, GET A BETTER JOB!

Some do call them "trough feeders". Given they have tinkered with everyones superannuation whilst the taxpayer contributes 20 per cent of theirs, have overseen no pay rises for some public servants for the last four years, and in the past introduced conditions such as spouses overseas trips that are unheard of in any other employee group, we should not be surpised of the latest announcement. No leading by example from the very people who are asking for us to vote for them. Time to return a blank voting form in protest.

this is crap because the majority of NZers (the 99%) taxes pay for these MP's salaries so effectively we (the tax payers) are their bosses. They have to represent us as "we" vote them into power. 120 MP's is far too many. NZ is screwed. If this keeps up.. we will be acting like Greece soon enough.

Jesus nobody needs that much money. Cut politician's pay back down to something far less insane, and use the rest of the money on subsidizing basic prices for shit we're struggling to get to survive.

I know everyone says "Oh if I were Prime Minister, I'd do things like this: insert stupid idea"

Personally, for me to fix the country the way I'd intend to, I'd need to take over as dictator or something. Scrap all current laws and rebuild them to fit modern day issues.

A PM doesn't need a fancy car, a massive house, a boat etc. Necessary travel costs, a place to sleep and some cheap food is all one really needs, if our politicians lived like Students, and re-invested the rest of the money back into the economy, things would go a lot smoother.

You'd think they're on the minimum wage of $13/hour and need a raise.

Of course they could just say 'no' to it.