Cassy O'Connor MP | Greens Leader
At a time when 1200 public sector workers have lost their jobs and funding to health and education has been cut, the Tasmanian Industrial Commission’s recommendation to increase MPs’ pay by almost 11% is completely out of step with community expectations.
When they brought on the MPs salary Bill last year, the Liberals knew full well the T.I.C. would recommend a substantial increase to MP pays. Having handballed the issue to the TIC, now it's up to the Premier to tell us whether or not he and his Ministers will take the money.
In our submission to the TIC, we argued that, as Members of Parliament are public servants, our salaries should be pegged to the State Wages Policy - currently at 2% - as it is for all other public servants.
The TIC's recommended rise would mean an extra $625K from the taxpayer going to Tasmanian MPs. This is about the same amount gouged from the budget of the Ombudsman’s office by the Liberals in their first budget.
It will be untenable to Tasmanians that 1,200 public servants lost their jobs in this term, many because the Liberals’ attempt to pause their pay failed, then the very same Liberal administration would award themselves a massive pay rise.
Should the Premier accept the TIC's recommendation, we will be moving to disallow the Motion in Parliament.
If the Premier agrees to take the money and pushes it through the House, the Greens MPs will certainly not be pocketing the cash that flows from any pay increase.
Should the pay rise flow through, we have agreed to donate any monies over and above the 2% to one of the community organisations underfunded or defunded by the Liberal Government.