Should we be paying our politicians more to stop corruption?

This is the question some Australians are asking in an attempt to reduce corruption…

Australia’s politicians are some of the highest paid in the world. With a base salary of $195,130 they are currently sitting on a higher annual salary than most Australians. But, earlier this week on Q&A, Eddie McGuire argued that the corruption and issues that stem from our politicians come down to one thing… “We don’t pay our politicians enough.”

Not too long ago, media mogul Richard Murdoch also said something similar, praising Singapore’s $1 million base salary as they have one of the cleanest governments and political systems worldwide.

Murdoch’s theories however, are not scientifically supported. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, Australia ranked ninth on the list, suggesting very low levels of corruption on a worldwide scale.

Interestingly, the politicians of all but one of the countries ranked above Australia are paid equal or less to ours.

Being a politician is an important and difficult role in many ways, and like every other type of employment, they deserve to be remunerated fairly. The Australian independent tribunal that determines parliamentary pay deems it entirely fair.

Below is the pay scale for parliamentary salaries as of July 1 2013 from the Independent Tribunal.

It seems that increasing their salary to decrease corruption is almost like rewarding them for their bad behaviour. Is corruption really that rife that we have to fork out more taxpayer money across the board for all politicians’ pockets?

We want you to share your thoughts with us today…

Do you think that politicians deserve to be paid more? Do you think that a pay rise will decrease corruption? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below…