Being our national leader is a job that shouldn't be about money

Australian politics have been obsessed for too long with the "hip-pocket nerve". Perhaps by cauterising their hip-pocket nerves federal politicians would be able to understand better the sorts of concerns welling up in the community over our obsessive pursuit of more money at the expense of everything else. Of course, having more money can make some things in life easier but having a happy home life, a job you enjoy, and enough time to spend with your friends and your hobbies are the things we will look back on with fondness or regret as our lives draw to a close.

When Howard's hero Winston Churchill retired, he said: "Now I had better go and make some money." Howard will be relieved of such a burden with his $2 million payout.

Like Churchill, Latham has obviously decided that being Prime Minister is more worthwhile than having a bit more money to spend in his retirement. And if the proposed changes to politicians' superannuation deter some people from running for office, then maybe we will be better off for it. Do we really want people to represent us if they are so out of touch with the community that they think it would be a struggle to live on $100,000 a year while in public office?

While some may believe that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys, others believe that if you pay truffles you get greedy pigs.