New Zealand MPs to receive payrise

November 30, 2006 New Zealand Members of Parliament will receive thousands more after getting pay increases today.

The pay rises for backbench MPs are between 3.8% and 4.1% which will mean a backbench MP will now earn around NZ$122,500. The pay rises are to counter inflation next year of about 2.5% which will result in MPs receiving more money. Other MPs with senior positions will get rises of between 4% and 8.1%.

This year the Prime Minister's increase will be worth just over $14,000 - paying her $6,942 a week. Helen Clark, PM of New Zealand, received a 9.4 per cent rise last year, increasing her salary by nearly $30,000 to $347,000. The latest increase will see her salary rise to about $361,000.

National's multimillionaire John Key has already secured a significant pay rise this week with his election to the leader's job and is on $216,000. The pay rise will be backdated to July 1, The New Zealand Herald reported today. Mr Key told The New Zealand Herald that he would donate a significant amount of his pay check to charitable organisations, as he has done since he first became an MP. Last year backbenchers got a 4.1% increase in their pay.

Judges are also going to expect a pay rise next year of about 5%.