Two months after a no-confidence motion against him, Jeremy Rockliff has been reappointed as Tasmania’s premier following an election that delivered a nigh-identical hung parliament.
Governor Barbara Baker announced this morning she would return Rockliff as premier, after the Liberal Party he leads won 14 seats at last month’s election.
That was more than Labor’s 10 – but still short of the 18 required to govern in a majority.
However, Baker said that as the incumbent, Rockliff had the right to test whether he had the support of parliament.
“In a hung parliament, where no one clearly holds the confidence of the majority of the House of Assembly, the incumbent has the right to remain in office in order to test the numbers in the House of Assembly and for Parliament to have the final say in who should be premier,” she said.
“I consider the convention of incumbency applies in the current circumstances. I shall reappoint the premier.
“It is better for confidence to be determined inside and not outside the parliament.”
That test will take place within the next fortnight, with parliament to reconvene on August 19.
Although Rockliff told Baker he expected he could gain the confidence of parliament when the two met yesterday, the premier-elect was more guarded when he spoke to the media this morning, where he dodged questions about whether he could survive another no-confidence motion.
“I believe that we can govern very sensibly in minority when it comes to working with the crossbench,” he said, before adding he believed he would have enough support for the stability model proposed by the Liberals.
“What I’m interested in doing is to ensure that we have good, strong engagement, collaboration, up until August 19 and then beyond,” he said.
“The Tasmanian people expect a new government, and all members of parliament that were elected to work together in the best interests of Tasmanians, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”
The no-confidence motion brought forward by Opposition Leader Dean Winter narrowly passed, 18 votes to 17, with the support of the Greens and other crossbenchers in early June.
However, while each of the Liberals, Labor and Greens retained the same number of seats in the ensuing election (at 14, 10 and five respectively), the Liberals’ primary vote rose by just over 3 per cent and Labor’s fell by a similar amount.
“Tasmanians are sick of the political games,” Rockliff said.
“What is important is that we are all mature in our approach.
“The people have spoken. The will of the people needs to be, and must be, respected.
“I’m very pleased with our support in the election in terms of over 40 per cent of the vote, and a positive swing, and 14 seats being returned.
“We’ve governed in minority before, and we’ll continue to do so again.”
For Rockliff and the Liberals to govern in minority, they need the support of four of the 11 crossbenchers.
With five independents and one Shooters, FIshers and Farmers MP, it is possible for Rockliff to get the numbers without turning to the Greens.
However, with Labor requiring the support of eight crossbenchers, it does need an agreement with the Greens to form government, and Winter has repeatedly ruled out making a deal with the minor party.
Rockliff and his cabinet will be sworn in next week.
