Ex-Miss Oz in abuse claims
Former MP denies charge involving husband
Former Tasmanian Labor MP Kathryn Hay, a Miss Australia beauty queen who represented the division of Bass between 2002–06, has pleaded not guilty to the emotional abuse or intimidation of her husband over a period of more than a decade.
Ms Hay, 47, appeared via telephone in Launceston Magistrates Court on Monday, when she was represented by defence lawyer Mark Doyle.
Ms Hay, a resident of Swan Bay, north of Launceston, entered, via Mr Doyle, a plea of not guilty to the charge, which Tasmania Police alleges was committed between October 22, 2011 and February 13, 2022.
Mr Doyle’s request for an adjournment of the charge to July 18 was granted by Magistrate Simon Brown.
“There is work that needs to be done to determine the parameters of this hearing,” Mr Doyle told the court.
“(And to determine) what witnesses may be required. I hope that by next time we’ll
have a reasonable estimate of time required to resolve this matter.”
The complainant in the matter is Troy Richardson, Ms Hay’s husband. The pair’s current marital status is unknown. ACM reported in 2021 they were married. Ms Hay and Mr Richardson have two children together.
Court documents previously reported by the Mercury list the allegations against Ms Hay.
They contain 46 particulars relating to alleged physical violence, manipulation and control.
They include allegations Ms Hay assaulted Mr Richardson on multiple occasions, including by pushing him, throwing a bowl of cereal at him, punching him in the face, pinning him to the ground and punching him in the face and torso, slapping him in the face.
Ms Hay was prominent in Tasmanian life in the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s.
In 1999, she was declared Miss Tasmania and went on to win the Miss Australia crown later that year.
Ms Hay was elected to the division of Bass at the 2002 state election alongside Jim Cox, the pair replacing retiring Labor Bass MPs Gill James and Peter Patmore.
She did not seek re-election at the 2006 state election, retiring due to “personal reasons,” according to her biography on the Parliament of Tasmania website.
She was the first woman of Aboriginal descent to be elected in Tasmania.