THE Upper House will determine if Tasmanian MPs receive a 10.5 per cent pay rise when it sits next month, after a disallowance motion passed the House of Assembly.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pay rise disallowance bill passed unanimously on Tuesday, but is expected to be defeated in the Legislative Council when it sits next on May 24.
During debate on Tuesday, Premier Will Hodgman said the 10.5 per cent pay rise recommended by the Tasmanian Industrial Commission was inappropriate and out of line with community expectations.
Following a hit to Tasmania’s GST revenue, Mr Hodgman said accepting the pay rise would not be “anywhere near affordable given very serious budgetary circumstances we are now facing.”
The bill was previously delayed after debate on it during the last sitting of the House of Assembly earlier this month timed out.
Greens Leader Cassy O’Connor said the disallowance motion was a sham, and would have no effect as the majority of MLCs had indicated they wished to abide by the TIC’s ruling.
“Let’s not forget for a moment that we are having this discussion about MPs pay because the Liberals brought in legislation that sent the issue off to the TIC and we were inevitably awarded a pay rise,” she said.
“We are now in a situation, almost farcical, of having to discuss this again today in order to disallow the pay rise from the House of Assembly, which we know the Legislative Council will vote through.”
In a release on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Hodgman said he welcomed the passing of the motion, and encouraged the MLCs to support wage restraint when they debate the bill.
“The government has consistently held the position that MPs pay should be assessed at arms-length from politicians themselves,” he said.
The government’s latest position is that MP pay should be fixed to the Wage Price Index, a combination of public and private sector wages in the state.
