Put politicians on worker's wage

Politicians are massively overpaid. The starting salary of a federal MP is more than $200,000 – putting them in the top five percent of Australia’s income earners. The government calls this a “basic salary” because there’s tens of thousands more for those who grab positions such as a parliamentary committee chair. Ministers get more than $350,000, putting them in the top one percent! 

The result is that parliament attracts careerists and grifters more interested in making life better for themselves and their own families than making life better for working people and our families. If politicians had to live like the rest of us, maybe they’d think differently about the decisions they make in parliament.

What we think

1. Political representatives should not form a separate class of society.
2. The economic interests of our political representatives should align with those of the majority. 

We'll fight for

1. Make the “basic salary” of all members of parliament no more than a 6th year nurse ($92,000) with all increases pegged to the nurses’ Award.
2. Abolish all “additional salaries” on top of the “basic salary”.
3. Force MPs to divest themselves of any and all direct stock market or other financial and trading market investments as a condition of taking office.
4. Force MPs to divest themselves of any residential properties in excess of two as a condition of taking office and ban them from collecting rent on any other properties.
5. Ban MPs from taking board positions in listed companies for ten years after leaving office.