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| Tasmania to hold early election after governor grants embattled premier Jeremy Rockliff’s request | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Barbara Baker agrees to poll despite ‘public interest in avoiding the cost’ because no possibility of alternative government forming | |
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| Tasmania will hold an early election on 19 July – just 16 months after last going to the polls – after the state’s governor agreed to a request from the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff. | Tasmania will hold an early election on 19 July – just 16 months after last going to the polls – after the state’s governor agreed to a request from the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff. |
| The announcement followed a dramatic week in which the parliament narrowly supported a no-confidence motion in Rockliff moved by the Labor leader, Dean Winter, and the state’s three main political parties each argued a fresh election could be avoided. | |
| Rockliff visited Government House in Hobart on Tuesday night to advise the governor, Barbara Baker, that he believed a new poll was needed. | Rockliff visited Government House in Hobart on Tuesday night to advise the governor, Barbara Baker, that he believed a new poll was needed. |
| In a statement on Wednesday night, Baker noted “the public interest in avoiding the cost of another election and the prevailing public mood against holding an election”. | |
| The governor said she had granted Rockliff’s request because she was because she was satisfied there was “no real possibility” that an alternative government could be formed. | |
| She took 24 hours to consider the state’s options, including asking Winter if he could form a government, before inviting Rockliff back and agreeing to his request. | She took 24 hours to consider the state’s options, including asking Winter if he could form a government, before inviting Rockliff back and agreeing to his request. |
| It will be the state’s fourth election in seven years. The last poll was on 23 March 2024. | |
| Winter’s no-confidence motion criticised Rockliff over his government’s management of the state budget, its mishandling of the purchase of new Bass Strait passenger ferries and its consideration of selling public assets. | |
| The motion passed 18 votes to 17 with the support of Labor, the Greens, Andrew Jenner of the Jacqui Lambie Network and the independents Craig Garland and Kristie Johnston. | |
| Winter had hoped the no-confidence motion would force Rockliff to step aside for a less popular Liberal leader, who would face the same challenge the ousted premier had: maintaining enough support to survive in a parliament in which no party has a majority of seats. | |
| But the Liberals backed Rockliff, arguing they would not allow Labor to decide who led them. | |
| The Greens offered to talk with Winter about offering confidence to a minority Labor government, but the opposition leader said he would not work with the minor party as their values did not align, including on the future of “traditional industries” such as forestry and salmon farming. | |
| Rockliff said he had convened a meeting of Liberal MPs before visiting the governor and again received unanimous support to continue as leader. He said another election was “not what I wanted, and I know that it’s not what Tasmanians wanted, but it was forced upon us by the leader of the opposition”. | |
| Winter said the governor had granted Rockliff “his wish of an election”. He said only Labor would “ensure Tasmanian profits stay in Tasmania, investing in schools, health, and housing”. | |
| The Greens leader, Rosalie Woodruff, said both Liberal and Labor MPs had “put their political interests first, ahead of the needs of Tasmanians”. She said she had tried to contact Labor in recent days to make “it clear we were ready to find a way to work together in the best interests of all Tasmanians, but the opposition leader didn’t even respond”. | |
| The Liberals head to the election with 14 seats in the state’s 35-member lower house. Labor has 10, the Greens five and there are six other crossbenchers. Tasmania uses the Hare-Clark proportional electoral system, under which seven MPs are elected in each of five seats. | |
| Prominent former federal Liberal MP Bridget Archer announced on Sunday that she would run. | |
| A recent ERMS poll suggested support for the Liberals had declined in part due to its management of what has become the state’s most contentious and high-profile political issue – a commitment to build a $1bn AFL stadium on the Hobart waterfront. Labor also supports the stadium, and its lead in the poll was narrow. | |
| The poll found Labor had 31% support, the Liberals 29% and the Greens 14%. Another 23% backed independents or other candidates. | |
| If correct, the poll suggests the election could produce another parliament in which no party has a majority of seats – triggering a new round of wrangling over who assumes power. |