The Victorian Socialists released the following statement on August 21.
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Parliamentarians are over-paid and out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people.
The New Zealand Labour government has just frozen politicians’ pay for 12 months. This would be a popular step but does not really change things.
State MPs in Victoria got a 5.3% pay rise last year, taking their minimum salary to $168,526 a year (or $3240 a week).
The premier, ministers, state opposition leader and shadow ministers all get more than $300,000 a year.
In contrast, Victoria’s minimum wage workers get only $36,134.80 a year ($694.90 a week).
The average weekly wage for full-time workers in Victoria was $82,482.40 a year ($1586.20 a week) in May 2018, but the median wage for full-time workers was $66,000 a year ($1250 a week).
The median wage is a more accurate measure of income because the average is skewed by a small number of high incomes. Most workers are paid close to the median income.
Of course, the figure for the median wage would be lower if you included all part-time and casual workers, which is around half of the workforce.
Any Victorian Socialists’ candidate who is elected will only accept an average worker’s wage.