Parliament descended into a bitter debate over parliamentary salaries after speaker Sue Hickey ruled out further questions over her argument for a higher wage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ms Hickey has made a confidential submission to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission which stated that the speaker's position should attract a higher loading on the basic salary than 35 per cent.
Ms Hickey refused to let Labor leader Rebecca White ask the government a third question on her submission during Question Time on Wednesday as she deemed it against parliamentary procedure to reflect on the speaker's position.
She said she ruled out the question as it regarded a member of Parliament who could not defend herself.
Ms Hickey then attacked Ms White.
"For somebody on your salary, which is significantly more than the person in question, the hypocrisy is galling," she said.
Ms White attempted to move a motion of dissent against the ruling.
She said it was difficult to distinguish Ms Hickey's status as either speaker or the member for Clark since she had spoken on the pay issue in the media.
Ms White said there was public interest in the matter and Ms Hickey was the only member of the House of Assembly who had requested an increased salary.
The motion was defeated by the government.
Earlier, Ms White asked whether Premier Will Hodgman would ask Tasmania Police to investigate Ms Hickey's claim her submission to the industrial commission was leaked to the media.
He said he would not.
Later, Ms Hickey released a statement critical of Ms White and Labor's deputy leader Michelle O'Byrne.
"Ms White who claims to understand working class Tasmanian's while taking home $290,000 a year plus a chauffeur driven limousine, should now admit that she took, like her Labor colleagues, extra salary last year," she said.
"Indeed the deputy leader of the Opposition, Michelle O'Byrne, is paid the same salary as I am paid as the speaker."