It is unclear what Mr Winter had hoped to achieve in pushing the no-confidence motion despite knowing it wouldn’t pass, but it may have cost him his own leadership. Photo: Dean Winter Facebook.
The Tasmanian Parliament resumed yesterday (19 August) for the first time since the 19 July state election, with Labor following through on its promise to call a no-confidence motion in Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s minority government.
But without the support of the Greens or even any of the Crossbenchers who had supported his previous motion in May, as expected, Labor leader Dean Winter’s motion fell with a vote of 24 against and 10 for.
The election saw a swing to the Liberals of three per cent but with no additional seats won, meaning the Liberals are still leading a minority government. The final tally from the election saw the Liberals win 14 seats, Labor 10, the Greens five, and independents six seats. A majority of 18 seats is required to form government.
Despite failing to win sufficient support from the Crossbench and the Greens to form government, Governor Barbara Baker reappointed Mr Rockliff as Premier due to the convention of incumbency, and said she would leave it up to the 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,” the Governor 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.”
In theory, Labor could have also formed government with the backing of the Greens and at least three independents, but was unable or unwilling to put together a deal.
Following last night’s failed motion, Mr Winter’s leadership of Tasmanian Labor now appears in doubt. The party’s dominant left faction reportedly met earlier this morning to discuss the previous days’ events and to spill the leadership which happens automatically after an election loss, and a wider party meeting was scheduled to be held today to elect a new leader.
Mr Winter has not indicated if he will recontest the leadership, but said after last night’s events the party “won’t abandon workers or make deals behind closed doors”.
“While Jeremy Rockliff caved in to the Greens and compromised his values for power, I stood by workers and did not,” he said.
“Tasmanians have just witnessed the coronation of a Liberal-Green government, and Tasmanian workers will never forget Jeremy Rockliff’s betrayal.”
Mr Winter had said throughout the campaign he would not form a coalition with the Greens, and reiterated that view after Mr Rockliff’s reappointment.
“I said at the start of this process that I’m prepared to work with the Crossbench on getting the best outcomes for Tasmania, but I’m not going to compromise on my values or beliefs,” he said on 18 August.
Mr Winter added that, despite not having the support of the Greens and suffering a small drop in the primary vote in the election, he remained committed to moving a no-confidence motion when parliament resumed.
“Confidence needs to be tested [on Tuesday] – I think it’s really important for Tasmania that we get the certainty out of the election.”
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff expressed disappointment and frustration with talks she had held with Labor in the lead up to parliament resuming.
“Since the election on 19 July, the Greens have done everything possible to work across the parliament to realise the change we told Tasmanians we’d fight for,” she said in a release.
“Over the last two weeks, we met with Labor multiple times and had many phone conversations about possible policy compromises and outcomes. We made it clear from the outset, and repeatedly after, that the Greens expected some movement on the issues we campaigned on.
“We know business as usual is failing this state, yet Labor refused to move,” she added. “Dean Winter has shown no capacity or intention to negotiate in serious good faith with the Greens, or to make policy compromises.”
Independent Member for Clark Kristie Johnston also said she wouldn’t support a Labor government.
“I have engaged collaboratively with both Jeremy Rockliff and Dean Winter over the past four weeks in what a future government might look like under both their leadership,” she said.
“It is fair to say that we have seen no change in conduct and behaviour from a Labor government, or potential Labor government, over this time.
“I have sat in a number of meetings with Crossbench members over the past four weeks where we have tried very hard to ensure that the Labor Party has every opportunity to put its best foot forward to change for Tasmania, to give Tasmanians a change they expect, and they simply have failed.
“I will remain independent, and I will be ensuring that both the government and the opposition are held accountable,” she added.
