I agree with the general point that politicians should be well remunerated, but I suspect we are not in the majority perseng...
Politics is really the pits as far as I am concerned. Imagine literally being on call 24/7 and having to listen to constituents whine about this and that. No thanks. I wouldn't do it for any money. I believe they should be paid well. Like it or not, they eventually form our govt. Having said that there's no doubt the current rubbery entitlements scheme is a rort. The Poms had similar issues and instituted new procedures, ones we should consider adopting. I like the idea of them paying up front and seeking reimbursement - always a nice sobering effect.
I think the best idea apart from tightening rules and having a truly independent body monitor them, is real time transparency ie a website, accessible to all where details of every member's claims and reasons therefor are able to be perused by constituents. That would stop rorting dead in its tracks.
