MPs largely refuse to be drawn on 3.5 per cent pay rise as Premier Roger Cook says members work hard for money

State MPs have largely refused to be drawn on news of a 3.5 per cent pay rise, with Roger Cook saying all members were working hard for their salaries. Speaking after the decision of independent Salaries and Allowances Tribunal on Monday to hand the pay bump to MPs and senior fat cats, Mr Cook said he was not in the role of premier for the money. Mr Cook — whose salary jumped above $400,000 — said the decision-making was appropriately kept independent from MPs. “I don’t go to work each day wondering, ‘You know what my wage is’,” he said. “I go to work each day because I want to serve the people of Western Australia and all our members of Parliament are hard working and earn every cent that they that they get, but we understand that this is a point of great interest to the community “They want to make sure the politicians are paid properly because they don’t want to, as you say, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys That’s right. “The second is they want value for money and I can assure the people of Western Australia, all our members of Parliament, my ministers and and the Opposition leader’s, all work incredibly hard because we are privileged and honoured to serve in these roles.” Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti, whose salary rose to $346,000 a year, said she would let people judge if the pay rise represented value for money. Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas — who is also a new MP and saw his salary rise to $316,000 — said his role came with “great responsibility” and a commitment to work hard. “I am new in this role and so it is my job to demonstrate to the people of Western Australia that I am worth what the Salaries And Allowances Tribunal says the person in my position is worth,” he said. “I’m very conscious that it’s a significant amount of money and I am very conscious that that requires hard work every single day.” Most Labor MPs sheepishly declined to answer whether they thought the 3.5 per cent pay rise was justified, while some said they were happy the decision was at arms’ length from elected representatives. New Swan Hills MP Michelle Maynard said the decision was interesting and remarked her base salary of $179,000 was lower than her previous career as a partner at an accounting firm. “It’s not decided by us. It’s decided by the SAT. So look, it’s an interesting job and I’ll leave the decision to them,” she said. Jandakot MP Stephen Pratt said there were mixed views in the community on the value of MPs’ pay. “Often online, you’ll get them saying you’re not worth the money but I think in (Parliament) we work pretty hard for the money,” he said.