Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is expected to go to the state's governor later today to seek a snap election just 15 months after the last poll. Parliament is now sitting to debate and pass a budget supply bill to ensure public servants can get paid during and after an election campaign. After that, Mr Rockliff intends to ask for parliament to be dissolved, with July 19 the earliest date the ballot can be held. This comes after the lower house passed Labor’s no-confidence motion in Mr Rockliff last week - 18 votes to 17.
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TVTranscript
00:00This bill shouldn't be a problem to get through Parliament.
00:05Labor has already agreed to support it as well.
00:08And then, as you mentioned after that, it'll be straight off to Government House for Premier
00:12Jeremy Rockliffe as he asks the Governor for an early election.
00:16If she agrees to this, this will be the second time in a little under 16 months that Tasmanians
00:22will be going off to the polls.
00:25So a very interesting time here in Tasmania.
00:28So how did this all come about?
00:29How did we get to this point?
00:31So last week, Labor leader Dean Winter passed a motion of no confidence in Premier Jeremy
00:36Rockliffe.
00:37There were several reasons that he says he did this, citing the crippling debt that Tasmania
00:43is in, the sacking of public sector workers, and of course, the spirit of Tasmania fiasco,
00:49where the state government essentially forgot to build a berth for the two new spirit of
00:53Tasmania vessels currently being built in Europe.
00:57So that motion passed 18 to 17 with the support of the crossbench and the Greens.
01:02It's also important to note that if an early election is called, there's quite a lot of
01:08uncertainty and fear from the sporting community about what this will mean for the proposed Macquarie
01:13Point Stadium and Tasmania's AFL team, the Tasmanian Devils.
01:17So there's quite a few logistical hurdles and development applications that were supposed
01:23to be put before the parliament in the coming months.
01:25And if, of course, Tasmania is plunged into an election campaign, those timelines could be
01:32blown out and changed.
01:33And that, of course, creates uncertainty for the stadium and that process.
01:38So all eyes will be on Tasmania over the next coming weeks to see how this all unfolds.
01:43You said, if there, Jess, I mean, are there other options on the table or is heading to an
01:49early election the most likely outcome here?
01:52Yeah, there are three options on the table.
01:55When the Premier meets with the Governor this afternoon, she could say to him, go back to
02:00the party and see if there is another Liberal who could govern.
02:04We understand the frontrunners for that would be Erica Betts and Guy Barnett.
02:08But we also understand they don't quite have the numbers for that yet.
02:12The other option is for Labor leader Dean Winter to govern in minority with the help of the Greens
02:18and the crossbench.
02:19Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff has said she's very keen on that option.
02:23But Dean Winter has emphatically ruled that out, saying he will not do a deal with the Greens
02:28and he will not govern with them.
02:30So that, of course, leaves the third option, which is an early election.
02:34And the soonest date that that could be held is July 19.
02:37So watch this space.
02:39We'll hopefully know more after their meeting this afternoon.