'So frustrating': The news set to anger Victorians

Excuse my language, this is going to piss you right off, okay?Because it's done it to me.A report in the Herald Sun just now.Victorian state MPs have been awarded a 3 .5 % pay rise, taking Jacinta Allen's annual pay and allowances to more than $530 ,000 a year.More than $530 ,000 a year in a decision that the state's remuneration tribunal says shows restraint.So Miss Ellen, who is also eligible for a parliamentary sitting allowance worth over $58 ,500 a year, she is the country's highest paid Premier.

This is the remuneration tribunal.They thought the MPs deserved a pay rise.This is a Premier who is the most disliked Premier in the country, yet she is the highest paid State Premier in the country.A pay rise of 3 .5%.Oh, it's the Independent Tribunal.We don't decide, say the MPs.

We don't decide, says the Premier.It's an Independent Tribunal.Might put in a request to interview someone from the Independent Tribunal, just to question how do they derive this decision and how do you give a pay rise to someone who is the most disliked Premier in the country?How is the most disliked Premier in the country the highest paid Premier in the country?Seems to me at the moment, Jacinta Rowland is failing upwards.Sorry, I'm just still simmering from what I reported on before the ad break.

The fact that MPs have been given a 3 .5 % pay rise.Jacinta Rowland remains the highest paid Premier in the country.Her salary now in excess of $530 ,000.I have to read you this though.This is from the Independent Remuneration Tribunal.Again, independent is the important word here.

I say with tongue firmly in check.Quote, given the current environment and consistent with community expectations regarding public expenditure, the Tribunal resolved that it should exercise a degree of restraint.So a 3 .5 % pay rise is a degree of restraint.So if there weren't current environment tough times, the MPs would have gotten a greater pay rise.Is that what we're saying?Because I tell you what, the 3 .5 % pay rise to a Premier who is the most disliked in the country and to her MPs is not in situ with community expectations.

I'm telling you now, you don't need an independent tribunal to tell you that the Premier didn't deserve a pay rise.You don't need a tribunal to tell you that MPs didn't deserve a pay rise.The fact that they get an annual pay rise.When was the last time you had an annual pay rise?Not just a one -off, annual.Thought so.

G'day Paul.

Thanks for taking the call.I think it's ridiculous given how incompetent and corrupt this government is.And I mean, at the end of the day, whether she's competent or not, we as Australian taxpayers can no longer afford to pay for all the government that we have.If you consider our relatively small population in Australia, we have three levels of government, federal, state and local.In Victoria alone, we've got 400 ,000 public servants working in 259 different state government departments, at councils, at federal governments, all this massive bloated bureaucracy, seven upper and lower houses, all with different laws.Forget taxes.

I mean, we can't afford, as there's only about five, six million workers,in Australia, pay for all these hangers -on.

Paul, again, what they get paid, again, is up for conjecture, no doubt about that.But to get a pay rise when you are arguably failing so badly, you are leading a state that is in record debt when your approval rating is the worst of any Premier in the country.Ivan, no, no, no, no. 3 .5 % pay rise.And then the independent tribunal that decides the remuneration for MPs has the audacity to come out and say, oh, we've applied restraint.We've applied restraint.No, you haven't.

No, you haven't.You talk to the electorate and ask them if they think the MPs deserve a pay rise.I guarantee you, you know the answer.G'day, Tom.

G'day, Shane.Well, Shane, I think we're getting off lightly.Could you imagine how much you'd be getting paid if she was doing a good job?Now the other thing is, what's not getting covered in all this, is just think about this for a minute.The biggest financial theft, financial theft and deception in Australia's history.$15 to $30 billion missing.

$15 to $30 billion and still the feds don't touch it, the states drag kicking and screaming, finally are saying that IVAC is going to be given power in November next year after the election.And yet this is not true.barely touched and just just think of those numbers the biggest scandal ever and it should be front page day after day until heads roll.

Tommy you think about the scandals you think about the waste again the the upcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games what was wasted on that what her predecessorson the East -West link, the billion dollars by just cancelling the contracts, the money that is being spent on the suburban rail loop, which many experts still question as to is it the viable option for Melbourne's future, and yet she gets a pay rise.And she and other MPs, not just Labor Party MPs, Liberal Party as well, will say, oh, well, it's an independent, it's an independent process.You know, we don't get a say.You don't get a say.Well, decline the pay rise then.

Say no, we don't want it.You're on $530 ,000 a year as a Premier who is the most disliked Premier in the country, has the worst approval rating in the country, has helped us go into record debt, has cost us billions, and you still get a 3 .5 % pay rise.It is just so frustrating for the Victorian community who go through so much, you know, rely on cuts to the fuel excise to be able to get by.We're hearing about more interest rate rises.Oh yeah, but the MPs at Spring Street, 3 .5 % pay rise.independent tribunal please.

I've just been given a list of the independent remuneration tribunal members and look they've got a job to do they obviously think that a 3 .5 % pay rise for MPs is worthy.I certainly don't think they're reading the mood of the electorate.I certainly don't think they're reading the mood of most Victorians when it comes to making our Premier the highest paid in the country.As I said before, it seems as though she's failing upwards.What did grab my attention, and this is publicly available on the website, the three members of the Tribunal, the Chair, Warren McCann member, Lorinda Gardiner, and another member, Meredith Sussex AM.You

at their skills and, you know, they've been around a lot, they've got a lot of diverse roles, they have diverse backgrounds.What they all share in common though is an extensive public service career.Warren McCann, Mr McCann has an extensive public service career with appointments in Victoria, South Australia and the Commonwealth.Lorinda Gardner, she has over 25 years senior experience and was formerly a Deputy Secretary with the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance and a Director of the City of Melbourne.Meredith Sussex as well.is respected specialist in public policy, administration and city planning.

Now, I don't want to be critical of these three members.They're trying to do their job again.They feel that 3 .5 % for MPs is worthy.I get the feeling though, if you brought someone in from business, outside of government, outside of the public sector, the assessment as to whether or not MPs should be given a pay rise, whether the Premier should be given a pay rise, I think it would be a very different outcome.Why are we not using or paying people from private enterprise to assess whether or not MPs and the Premier deserve a pay rise?Because they are much more fiscally responsible.

than those in the public sector.Remember, the public sector is your money, my money.A lot of people in the public sector do great work.I'm not being critical of that.What I am being critical of is when MPs get a pay rise and the Premier is the highest paid in the country, it is not a great look for the rest of society.So therefore, for the pay rises, for those in Parliament, when it is so clear for everyone to see, shouldn't they be made by

of the private business, private enterprise, as opposed to those who have always worked within the public sector?That to me would be something to look at going forward.