The Greens today moved an urgency motion seeking to have the Liberal government’s Crown Employees (Salaries) Bill 2014 immediately withdrawn.
The Greens’ urgency motion reads:
That this House:
agrees that the Crown Employees (Salaries) Bill 2014 be withdrawn immediately, and
directs the Liberal government to instead develop a Budget Savings ‘Plan B’, and to enter into good-faith negotiations with public sector unions to develop alternative efficiency measures.
“Premier Hodgman should be big enough, as a Leader, to take note of growing approbation over his government’s blind push to impose a public sector pay freeze, and withdraw the Bill being rushed through the House today,” Greens Leader and Treasury spokesperson Kim Booth MP said.
“The Liberals did not take their public sector pay freeze to the election, so they cannot claim a mandate for it.”
“We also discovered in Question Time that the government has not been entirely truthful in their claims that the pay freeze applies ‘across the whole State Government sector’, as the Bill does not apply to some of the highest paid public sector workers including the judiciary.”
“Even Legislative Councillors are taking the unprecedented step of publicly warning that the government should be considering a ‘Plan B”, as that Chamber is getting very tired of being treated as a rubber-stamp, just as we in the Lower House are when it comes to botched and half-baked Bills being rammed through by the Liberals.”
“It is disappointing that the Liberals used their numbers to block debate on our substantive motion to have this flawed Bill withdrawn, and to direct the government to instead develop a budget savings ‘Plan B’, and enter into good-faith negotiations with public sector unions to develop alternative efficiency measures.”
“This arrogant majority government refuses to recognise that democracy relies upon a diversity of opinions, and the space for rigorous debate,” Mr Booth said.