The Liberal and Labor parties won’t be able to form a majority government in Tasmania after voters went to an early election over the weekend.
The results are largely consistent with the formation of the last Parliament, with the Liberal Party securing more seats than Labor.
Independents and the Greens will decide who forms the next government, as both Labor and Liberal leaders scramble to secure enough support from the crossbench.
Election
Tasmania was not due to head to the polls to elect a new state government until 2028.
In early June, Labor successfully passed a no-confidence motion against Premier Jeremy Rockliff, citing growing debt in the recent state budget.
Key independents and the Greens teamed up to help pass the motion, leading Rockliff to request an election that he said “nobody wanted or needed”.
Results... so far
Tasmania has a proportional representation model.
There are five electorates covering Tasmania: Braddon (north-west), Bass (north-east), Lyons (central-west), Clark (Hobart and surrounds), and Franklin (south).
Seven MPs are elected in each seat.
Opinion polling initially showed stronger support for Labor, although there was a dip in the party’s support ahead of Saturday’s polling day.
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The current count shows:
Liberal – 14
Labor – 9
Greens – 5
Independents – 4
Currently, three seats are undecided. It’s likely Labor will pick up a 10th seat and it’s possible the Liberal Party will get to 15.
However, neither of the major parties will get to the 18 seats it needs to form a majority. Labor’s primary vote is the lowest on record at just under 26%.
Counting will continue until 2 August.
What now?
The Liberal and Labor party would each need extra support to form a minority government.
On election night, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he intended to ask the Governor to “recommission my government so we can get on with the job for Tasmania”.
Two of the four crossbenchers, Craig Garland and Kristie Johnston, voted to oust Rockliff in the no-confidence motion that ultimately triggered the election.
One of the new independents is former ABC journalist and anti-salmon farming advocate Peter George. He has been elected in Franklin.
Liberal MP Eric Abetz has accused George of being ”hellbent on ending jobs and the Tasmanian way of life.”
Labor’s Dean Winter has previously ruled out brokering a deal with the Greens but said he was talking with independents.
Winter acknowledged that the Liberal Party has “the first crack” at forming government since it has won more seats.
