Upper House MPs Mike Gaffney and Rob Valentine remain tight-lipped as to whether they will vote for a recommended 10.5 per cent pay rise for the state’s MPs to be accepted.
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A motion to disallow the pay rise recommended by the Tasmanian Industrial Commission is unlikely to be passed, with convention dictating President Jim Wilkinson votes against any legislation dead-locked at seven votes apiece.
But Mr Gaffney and Mr Valentine have confirmed they will listen to debate on the motion before settling on a position – meaning Mr Wilkinson could be required to cast his vote.
The pay rise will take effect if just one of the two undecided MPs rejects the disallowance motion, with seven MLCs indicating they will vote to accept the TIC’s recommendation.
Under the TIC’s recommended increase, the basic salary for a backbencher and member of the Opposition would increase by $13,000.
Labor MLCs Josh Willie and Craig Farrell, Liberals Leonie Hiscutt and Vanessa Goodwin and Independent Rosemary Armitage have all said they will support the motion.
Hobart MLC Mr Valentine said he wanted to seek further clarification about Premier Will Hodgman’s intentions for future pay rise legislation were.
Mr Hodgman has said he wants to tie politicians’ pay to the Wage Price Index, a combination of public and private sector salaries, but Mr Valentine said he wanted more detail.
“I want my hands off the levers. The future process though is most important to me as I have sympathy for basing the pay on variations in the wage price index,” Mr Valentine said.
Tying it to public service salaries doesn't work for me because every time the parliament deals with public service salaries they would be dealing with their own salary.”
Mersey MLC Mr Gaffney said the government, Labor and the Greens had interfered in the integrity of the TIC’s process.
“I am concerned that the indirect consequence of that interference may have, in the long term, even greater detrimental impacts,” he said.
“I will not support political manoeuvring and manipulation when it comes to salaries and entitlements for MPs.
Mr Gaffney said he had no comment on the TIC’s determination, but reinforced that he would not and should not be involved in a decision-making process about his own wage.