Jeremy Rockliff, the Liberal Premier of Tasmania, has announced that negotiations with two former Liberal MPs have broken down and he will call an early election tomorrow.
Rockliff said John Tucker and Lara Alexander had “failed to commit to a new, enduring agreement”, following their resignations from the Liberal Party in May, 2023. The former Liberals had concerns relating to the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium project. Their resignations sent the government into minority status in the House of Assembly.
Alexander been in parliament since February 2022, whilst Tucker was elected on a countback to fill a vacancy in March 2019.
Today’s tweets from the Premier of Tasmania, Jeremy Rockliff.
Tweets from Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff
The current House of Assembly has 25 members. At the 2021 state election, the Liberals won 13 seats to the ALP’s 10 and the Greens 2. The departures of Tucker and Alexander leaves the Liberals with 11 seats.
The coming election will see the House of Assembly restored to 35 seats, the number that prevailed from 1959 until 1998. The Hare-Clark proportional voting system used in Tasmania means that the quota for election will be reduced from the current 16.7%.
Jeremy Rockliff has been Premier of Tasmania since April 2, 2022, following the resignation of Peter Gutwein. Prior to that, Rockliff had been Deputy Leader of the Liberals for 16 years.
The Liberal government will be seeking a fourth term in office at the election. It was first elected on March 15, 2014 under the leadership of Will Hodgman. Hodgman won a second term in 2018. He retired in 2020 after nearly six years as Premier. Gutwein won the government’s third term in 2021 and retired in 2022.
The election, rumoured to be called for March 23, will be held a year earlier than required.