Rallies in Qld to protest pollie pay rises

Rallies are being held throughout Queensland to protest against what unions say are hypocritical pay rises given to state politicians.

The state's public sector union, Together, has labelled April 1 "We Won't Be Fooled Day" and is holding rallies in Townsville, Bundaberg, Cairns, Mackay and Brisbane.

The biggest protest will be staged outside Parliament House on Tuesday afternoon.

"We are letting politicians of all stripes know we won't be taken for fools," Together said in a statement.

"The government can't give themselves mega pay increases while stripping away public servants' wages and conditions via its so-called 'modernisation' of awards, which are not modern, not flexible, just unreasonable."

The rallies come after the Queensland Independent Remuneration Tribunal last week gave senior politicians massive pay rises, including a $67,000 top-up to Premier Campbell Newman's salary, putting him on almost $380,000 a year.

Mr Newman says he'll give money to charity, as he does every year, but refused to say whether he would donate all of his $67,000 raise.

"We had an independent process that everyone signed off on, and the process delivered an outcome," he said.