Greens Leader Nick McKim MP has challenged Premier elect Will Hodgman to identify which “law” he is referring to that prescribes resourcing and parliamentary rights.
The challenge comes after Mr Hodgman was reported as saying that the Greens would “...get what they’re entitled to under the law.”
“Mr Hodgman is either confused or deliberately trying to abdicate his responsibility,” Mr McKim said.
“There are no laws that relate to MPs’ resources or parliamentary rights, if such a law does exist he should have no trouble referring to it.”
“It is entirely a matter for Mr Hodgman and his government to determine the resources allocated to opposition or crossbench parties, and he should not be misleading Tasmanians by claiming that he is bound by law.”
“It would be very disappointing if one of Mr Hodgman’s first decisions as Premier was to attempt to reduce scrutiny on his government by unfairly slashing resources to non-government MPs.”
“We’re not expecting the same level of resources we had with five MPs, but it is important for our democracy that the Greens are adequately resourced to fulfil our responsibility to hold the government to account.”