LEGISLATIVE councillors have warned that the state government faces a political time bomb over the issues of politicians' salaries, and are pushing to remove parliamentary involvement in the issue. The pay freeze for sitting members will end at the start of July, with MHAs and MLCs to receive a 2 per cent pay rise, taking their base salary to $120,000. The state government will soon introduce legislation to allow the Tasmanian Industrial Commission to make rulings on future pay levels, but any decision could be vetoed by a majority of both houses of Parliament. Independent Windermere MLC Ivan Dean said the veto powers were "nonsense". "It still gives the parliament a say on parliamentary salaries and we should be as far removed from that in all circumstances," he said. "The TIC can and must take into account the economy at the time, and if we're not going to have faith in them to make the right call, then why the hell involve them at all?" Independent Western Tiers MLC agreed that the TIC's rulings should be binding. "The parliament should simply accept the TIC's decision," he said. "They are the independent umpire." Mr Dean said that if politicians' pay did not keep pace with other jurisdictions, then the government risked a decision akin to the infamous 40 per cent pay rise of 1993. "The further that we fall behind, the greater the amount is going to be in the long run," he said. "You can just see in the next 8-10 years a big catch-up, and no one will stand for that." But a state government spokeswoman said the veto powers were a standard parliamentary mechanism, that would only be used if the TIC's rulings were out of step with community expectations. "It is impossible to make the process entirely independent because the parliament is master of its own destiny," she said. "(It) could legislate at any stage to overturn the TIC ruling if it so wished, even if no disallowance mechanism was included in the Bill."
LEGISLATIVE councillors have warned that the state government faces a political time bomb over the issues of politicians' salaries, and are pushing to remove parliamentary involvement in the issue.
The pay freeze for sitting members will end at the start of July, with MHAs and MLCs to receive a 2 per cent pay rise, taking their base salary to $120,000.
The state government will soon introduce legislation to allow the Tasmanian Industrial Commission to make rulings on future pay levels, but any decision could be vetoed by a majority of both houses of Parliament.
Independent Windermere MLC Ivan Dean said the veto powers were "nonsense".
"It still gives the parliament a say on parliamentary salaries and we should be as far removed from that in all circumstances," he said.
"The TIC can and must take into account the economy at the time, and if we're not going to have faith in them to make the right call, then why the hell involve them at all?"
Independent Western Tiers MLC agreed that the TIC's rulings should be binding.
"The parliament should simply accept the TIC's decision," he said.
"They are the independent umpire."
Mr Dean said that if politicians' pay did not keep pace with other jurisdictions, then the government risked a decision akin to the infamous 40 per cent pay rise of 1993.
"The further that we fall behind, the greater the amount is going to be in the long run," he said.
"You can just see in the next 8-10 years a big catch-up, and no one will stand for that."
But a state government spokeswoman said the veto powers were a standard parliamentary mechanism, that would only be used if the TIC's rulings were out of step with community expectations.
"It is impossible to make the process entirely independent because the parliament is master of its own destiny," she said.
"(It) could legislate at any stage to overturn the TIC ruling if it so wished, even if no disallowance mechanism was included in the Bill."
