Pay pollie a cracker?

More to the point, a great deal of the work undertaken by politicians comprises activities designed to help them get re-elected. Being paid a handsome salary with generous expenses while doing this gives them a very unfair advantage over their unelected competitors.

The critics are right – the reason for entering politics ought to be service to the country rather than a lucrative professional career. It should attract people who have done more than navigate their way through a party, work for existing politicians and manipulate numbers to gain preselection. Politicians should have a life outside politics that ensures they are not desperate to be re-elected.

It is difficult to see why political service should be substantially different from serving on the board of a charity or other non-profit organisation, with reimbursement of expenses and possibly an attendance fee. It should certainly not be a better paid job than anything else an incumbent is likely to achieve.

And of course, it should be viewed as a temporary role that will end. And when it does, there should be something to go back to.