Tasmania's state election sees boost in vote for Liberal Party

SBS Australia

13 hours ago

Tasmania's election delivers more seats for the Liberal Party; Fighting continues in Syria, even after the announcement of a ceasefire; The British & Irish Lions win the opening match of the Test series against the Wallabies.
Tasmania's election delivers more seats for the Liberal Party;
Fighting continues in Syria, even after the announcement of a ceasefire;
The British & Irish Lions win the opening match of the Test series against the Wallabies. Tasmania faces a period of political talks, after a snap election delivered another hung parliament - and more seats to the Liberals than Labor. Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff has declared victory after his party secured 14 seats to Labor's nine, both short of the 18 required for majority. Mr Rockliff says he plans to ask the governor to recommission his government, noting a roughly three per cent swing to the Liberals. "It is our team, the Liberal party, who will achieve the most seats in this election with a significantly increased vote - and I thank you! (cheers) And I want to thank all Tasmanians. On that basis - there is some way to go until the conclusion of the counting and the return of the writs. But I intend to visit the governor and ask her to recommission my government, so we can get on with the job for Tasmania." (cheers) Labor experienced its worst-ever result in Tasmania with just 26 per cent of the primary vote, but Labor leader Dean Winter hasn't conceded defeat. He says the challenge now will be how the Liberals will achieve a majority to govern. Violence has escalated in Syria's southern province of Sweida, as the government struggles to implement a ceasefire declared a day earlier. A week of fighting between local Bedouin tribesmen and the Druze community has left more than 900 people dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights - as both sides are accused of atrocities. In a statement issued on Saturday, Syrian authorities said the truce aimed to preserve national unity, describing the move as a national and humanitarian obligation. Convoys of security forces have been directed to go to Sweida province. Yousef Al Ahmad is among those who have been deployed. "We are here on the highway between Al-Sham in Damascus and Daraa. The internal security forces are gathering to enter Sweida province to settle the dispute between the Arab tribes and outlaws, to protect the state's institutions and protect civilians and innocent children and to protect all sects, God willing." Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison will testify at a US House panel hearing next week on the issue of Chinese influence. Mr Morrison will testify on Wednesday before the House Select Committee on China, an appearance that comes days after a visit to China by current PM Anthony Albanese. Relations with China cooled during Morrison's time in the Lodge after Canberra called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19. China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves described by the United States as "economic coercion." An IVF provider targeted in a cyber attack has written to patients confirming their stolen personal information has been posted on the dark net. Genea chief executive Tim Yeoh says they have established the posting of the data in an investigation following a security breach at the company on February 14. That inquiry determined its patient management systems were accessed by an unauthorised third party or "threat actor". The impacted servers were a store for a raft of personal information including full names, emails, addresses, phone numbers, Medicare card numbers, private health insurance details, medical history, diagnoses, treatments, medications and prescriptions. In rugby union, the British and Irish Lions have taken the series lead, defeating the Wallabies 27-19 in the opening game. In front of 52-thousand (52,229) fans in Brisbane, the Wallabies scored a pair of late tries to reduce the margin to eight points. Wallabies legend Michael Hooper told Sky Sports says the team will learn from this heading into the upcoming games. "The Wallabies coming home late and showed some really good - it may be a little bit of a blueprint of what they need to play 80 minutes of in Melbourne next week. So a little bit flat. I'm excited by some positive signs. This team is two games into their season. The Lions are well-versed on where they are in this point. I think it is going to be very interesting who they roll out on Tuesday night and then Saturday next week."