The reasons Lisa Wilkinson should be paid more than Waleed Aly

OF course Lisa Wilkinson is not equal to Waleed Aly. She’s worked longer and has broader appeal — and spent years propping Karl Stefanovic. She deserves every cent, says Susie O’Brien.

Karl Stefanovic was paid double what Lisa Wilkinson was at Today.

IT’S not victim politics for a woman to want the same as a man with the same public profile doing the same job as her.

It’s equality politics and there should be more of it.

Lisa Wilkinson deserved to be paid the same as Karl Stefanovic by Channel Nine because she did the same job for many, many years and had the same worth to the network.

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She was paid $1.1 million while he got $2 million.

Lisa Wilkinson deserves to earn more than Waleed Ali. Picture: Instagram @bickmorecarrie

Karl Stefanovic was paid double what Lisa Wilkinson was at Today.

In TV doing the same job doesn’t mean you automatically get equal pay because pay is based on an individual’s talent, audience appeal and popularity and not just their technical skills or experience.

A Lisa Wilkinson is not equal to a Waleed Aly, for example.

She has a much broader appeal, a much longer career in the media and a much higher profile than Aly. But she was equal to Karl Stefanovic in every way. I’d even say better — much better.

Stefanovic only had the high profile he did because he had Wilkinson propping him up for so long.

His blokey schtick only worked because she was next to him playing the straight role. His recent marital woes and separation have taken a toll, particularly with female viewers. This has meant the show relied on Wilkinson’s popularity with women more than ever.

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Lisa leaves home on Tuesday. Picture John Grainger

Wilkinson had the added advantage of a long magazine career. Many of her female viewers would remember her from her editing stints on Dolly and Cleo.

She’s also got an AM in last year’s Australia Day Honours and does a lot of charity work.

Sure, in recent years, Karl picked up some extra work on other Nine shows such as 60 Minutes and This Time Next Year — his vanity projects — but he stepped down from his Today duties to do the filming.

Wilkinson has always been well respected in a way Stefanovic is not — the reaction to her Andrew Olle speech about women in the media — illustrated that.

So for some to suggest today that Wilkinson is in any way a victim for leaving Nine because they wouldn’t pay her the same as her co-host is totally wrong.

It’s pretty typical. Just as women get a win, there’s a man telling us we don’t deserve it and to go back to sucking it up as usual.