90-minute upper house presidency is a national joke — on taxpayers

Is there a better gig than being a major party member of the adornment to bicameralism, the NSW Legislative Council?

You get to be paid more than $169,000 a year — $190,000 if you score a committee chairmanship. You get to hire and fire your staff on a whim, without any of the usual workplace protections. You get an eight-year term, and because the whole state is your electorate, you don’t have to answer to any pesky constituents. Best of all, you only have to work about 75 days a year in Parliament, including estimates hearings.

It’s much tougher for crossbench councillors — they have to work out how to vote on legislation and what work they’re going to do on committees. And ministers have their day jobs running their portfolios. But if you’re a major party backbencher, it’s a great job.