Christmas has come early for New Zealand’s Members of Parliament with new salaries announced that will be backdated to July.
The Prime Minister’s salary jumped to $448,569 - an extra $13,556 a year or $260 per week – up 3.1 percent.
Deputy Prime Minister Bill English will receive an extra $10,241 per year bringing his salary up to $318,760, while cabinet ministers, the Speaker of the house, David Carter and the leader of the Opposition, Andrew Little will all be paid $281,881 - an increase of $9300 or 3.4 percent.
And those on the backbenches will receive an extra $6089 annually.
The pay rise follows a law change this year which aimed to balance MP’s salaries with the average public sector pay.
The Remuneration Authority controls the process and quietly published the change last week.
The percentage increases ranging between 3 and 4 percent, slightly above New Zealand’s average wage growth of around 2.2 percent. Inflation is currently set at 0.4 percent.
3 News
