Former Miss Australia and Bacon government parliamentary secretary Kathryn Hay punched and slapped her former husband during eight years of their marriage, the Launceston Magistrates court has heard.
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Kathryn Isobel Hay, 48, has pleaded not guilty to a count of emotional abuse and intimidation.
Her former husband Troy Shane Richardson told the court of a number of incidents where Ms Hay slapped him while he was driving.
After one of the incidents in Hobart a police family violence order was put in place.
Mr Richardson told the court that Ms Hay would call him a "c---" and a "bastard" and abuse him if he did not carry out the list of jobs she would give him.
The couple bred and sold dogs at their Beaconsfield property.
He alleged that Ms Hay threw a bowl of cereal at him, made a throat slitting gesture towards him, accused him of cheating, told him she wished she had never met him and that she wished she could die because he was treating her so badly.
He said she would frequently put the abuse in writing.
Police prosecutor Garth Stevens tendered twelve screenshots which detailed some of the accusations and the language used.
Mr Richardson told the court of Ms Hay's behaviour towards their children which he said included physical and emotional abuse.
Ms Hay's defence lawyer Dermot Connors objected to the evidence but it was accepted by magistrate Simon Brown because it was indicative of the effects of the allegations on Mr Richardson's feelings.
He told the court that she scolded their children during a period when they played tennis.
On one occasion she demanded that one of the children hand her a Nationals tennis shirt.
He said she made her son cut it up with scissors.
The shirt was tendered as an exhibit in the trial.
Mr Richardson said that she accused him of having an affair with a Victorian dog breeder who he had never met.
"Were you ever unfaithful to Ms Hay?," Mr Stevens asked.
"No," Mr Richardson said.
He told the court Ms Hay would frequently talk about her late husband saying what a good person he was.
Mr Richardson told the court she was controlling and manipulative and would not let him see his parents.
The court heard that Ms Hay told police that he had sexually abused their children.
Mr Richardson said he was interviewed by police many times after the allegation but was never charged.
The court heard that during their marriage the children were removed for a time by Child and Family Services.
He said that in 2021 she demanded that he make an application to revoke the family violence order and that she edited the submission.
But when Mr Connors cross examined Mr Richardson about his evidence he agreed that the application had not been amended.
"I got that one wrong," Mr Richardson said.
Mr Richardson told the court that Ms Hay had demanded that he contact her siblings and tell them that all the problems in their marriage were his fault.
He said what she said to him made him feel distraught, broken, extremely low and depressed.
Mr Connors asked Mr Richardson at length about the family's financial arrangements including a carer's pension that he received because she was disabled with "major depression".
Mr Richardson was warned by magistrate Brown that he did not have to answer if his answer would tend to self-incriminate.
On one occasion he said he would rather not answer because the answer "could incriminate both of us".
Mr Connors asked what income was derived from the dog business.
"I don't know," Mr Richardson said.
"If I suggested it was more than $100,000 and less than $300,000 what would you say," he asked.
"I don't know the answer," Mr Richardson replied.
"Were you aware of your responsibility to disclose to Centrelink other income?," Mr Connors asked.
"I'd rather not answer that thank you," he replied.
Mr Connors pre-empted through questions much of the evidence to be given by Ms Hay.
''My client will give evidence that she did not suffer depression and was not disabled," Mr Connors said.
He asked Mr Richardson if he had a copy of a doctor's letter which said Ms Hay had major depression.
"Not on me," he replied.
"Do you still have it at home," Mr Connors asked.
"It's possible," Mr Richardson said.
"Would you look tonight?," Mr Connors asked.
"I'm not sure I've got time to have a look,' Mr Richardson replied.
Magistrate Brown ordered that Mr Richardson needed to make a "reasonably energetic attempt to look for it".
When cross examination turned to an incident in Melbourne traffic Ms Hay shook, her jaw trembled and she appeared close to tears.
Mr Connors suggested to Mr Richardson that Ms Hay only called him a c--- on three occasions.
"I disagree," he said.
He suggested that Mr Richardson had control of her Facebook and Messenger accounts including many of the screenshots tendered into evidence.
"My client will say that she did not send that message to you," Mr Connors asked several times.
"Did you send that message to yourself ?".
"No," Mr Richardson said.
Ms Hay was Miss Tasmania and Miss Australia in 1999 before becoming the first person of Aboriginal descent to be elected to the Tasmanian Parliament in 2002 as a member for Bass.
She became parliamentary secretary to Labor Premier Jim Bacon, but retired from parliament for personal reasons in 2006.
Ms Hay, a teacher by profession, lived overseas for 18 months with her late husband, Michael Creighton, a bomb disposal expert and aid worker in high-risk areas like Lebanon.
She nominated to stand for the 2013 state election, but withdrew before the election.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for The Examiner. My journalism career has clicked over 34 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for The Examiner. My journalism career has clicked over 34 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
