Not in the same boat

The Herald reports that National's under-45 Cabinet ministers Nikki Kaye and Simon Bridges support the government's plans to increase the retirement age for the young. Of course they do. One of our basic constitutional principles is Cabinet collective responsibility, under which Cabinet Ministers agree to support Cabinet decisions. Its entirely unsurprising that Cabinet Ministers follow this principle, regardless of their age. And if they didn't, they'd be sacked - which would cost them ~$100,000 a year. Which is also 100,000 reasons to keep silent.

But its also worth pointing out that simply by virtue of being Cabinet Ministers Kaye and Bridges will have a very different perspective on this from their victims. They're paid over $250,000 a year. They have gold-plated superannuation schemes thanks to a generous parliamentary subsidy. Plus they have the possibility of crony jobs and sinecures, or simply using public office as a stepping stone to a private sector influence-peddling position. On any issue involving pay and public services Ministers are simply in a completely different boat from us. They're members of the 1%, they'll never have to rely on public superannuation, and they'll never feel the consequences of their decisions. Its no wonder then that they're so comfortable fucking us over for the benefit of their fellow one-percenters.