COMMENTARY:

There is so much about politics that the hackles go up when the dog really needs a bone and we all wonder what it's all about.

There were a few gnarling their teeth around the Parliament yesterday after the new, self-appointed paymaster Jacinda Ardern impotent the body charged with fixing their salaries, the Remuneration Authority.

The independent authority awarded the politicians a three percent wage increase, but Ardern had none of it, which of course was an easy decision to take, since she had received a wage increase thanks to Winston Peters of $ 185,000 last year.

The last increase would have seen its wage increase rise by another $ 15,000.

Her disdain for the pay rise will have to be borne by the rest of the Parliament: there will be a pay-as-you-go for the next year, and collective bargaining will be on the table while they have undoubtedly set up a different committee to decide how politicians can be best placed. & # 39; salaries in the future.

The remuneration authority's mantra, that its decisions are final, to ensure that they are independent of the government, is now not worth the paper on which it is written.

A move like this is easy for a new cabinet to launch, because they are all on the pig's back now when it comes to their wage packages, earning more than many of them ever thought possible.

Ardern thus seemed to sound altruistic simply, while holding on to the move revolved around the values ​​of her government and insisted that it did not seem fair to raise their salaries (which are at the top of the income scale) while they were other side struggling.

We do not need it, was the verdict of the summit.

The freezing of their incomes was discussed earlier when a red-headed John Key blushed about his salary increase of $ 24,000 three years ago when the authority passed on an increase of 5.5 percent.

The argument was then that the gap between ministers and managers from the private sector increased. But looking at some ministers in this government, and in earlier established Bijenkorf supporters, the gap is not big enough.

The only politician on the other, whose income dropped nearly 50 percent, but now returns to where he was minister, is Simon Bridges who was called by Ardern to tell him about their decision. He was understanding, she says, but what choice did this free-wheeling politician have?

And on his free wheels, his use of the ministerial limos on his acquaintance with you, and all the money he claimed to be using, seemed a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

One department pays the other for their use – which means that the taxpayer's tax is not actually used up, apart from the limousine's purchase.