As the dust settles from an unnecessary election, premier Jeremy Rockliff has some serious work to do to form a stable government
The Tasmanian premier – the leader of Australia’s sole Liberal government – called an election a year earlier than required, believing he could persuade voters to reject the “chaos” of minority government and reward his party with a fourth straight majority victory. Tasmanians didn’t buy it.
The ex-Liberals who caused him so much grief in the last term, John Tucker and Lara Alexander, are both gone, rejected by their electorates. But the parliament is likely to include five Greens, two or three new MPs representing theIt makes Rockliff’s exultant declaration on Saturday night that the early results looked “like a fourth consecutive win for the Liberal party” tone deaf, at best. Tasmanians collectively chose to give other MPs the final say on that.
Many political observers, including some Liberals, thought this was madness. The attacks came as every poll suggested the government would not be re-elected in its own right and would likely have to rely on JLN MPs. A central question now is whether this can be quickly patched up or will ultimately be seen as an extraordinary act of self-harm on the part of Rockliff and his advisers.
Little in the Liberals’ behaviour of the past year suggests they are open to this more collaborative model or that they have the nimbleness required to manage it. It would raise fresh challenges for Rockliff’s leadership, which may come under threat after Saturday’s result and as the Liberal party room becomes increasingly conservative . But it may be their only choice if they want to govern.
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