Cassy O'Connor MP | Greens Leader
The Tasmanian Greens will not be supporting the Parliamentary Salaries, Superannuation and Allowances Amendment Bill 2015 because we believe Tasmanian Parliamentarians should not be treated differently from any other public servant in Tasmania.
The Bill seeks to refer the determination of MPs' pay to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission. The risk here is that the T.I.C. will determine that state politicians should be paid more and receive more entitlements.
That's a risk we are not prepared to support. The Premier seems to be trying to get himself and his ministers a pay rise without accepting responsibility for the decision.
Having sought to gut the T.I.C. with the pay pause legislation last year, the Premier now appears to want the Commission to do his dirty work in securing higher pay for politicians.
We believe that the best approach would be to link the rate of politicians' pay rises to any rises in the salaries of Tasmania's Senior Executive Service.
When times are so tough for so many Tasmanians, we believe that it's irresponsible of the Premier to contemplate significant pay increases that may be recommended by the T.I.C.