Liberals call on Labor to concede Tasmanian election and bid to form minority government

Australia Broadcast Center

24-07-2025

The Tasmanian Liberals are calling on Labor to concede defeat as both parties continue discussions with crossbenchers to form government following Saturday's state election.
Speaking on ABC Radio Hobart, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said Labor leader Dean Winter and his party "have completely gone to ground".
"Nobody knows about the secret dealings with the Tasmanian Greens. He's said he would not do a deal with the Greens, he can only be in government with a deal with the Greens," Mr Rockliff said.
It could still be more than a week before Tasmanians know the final makeup of the next parliament, but so far the Liberals have 14 seats, Labor 10, the Greens five and there are four independents — Kristie Johnston, David O'Byrne, Craig Garland and Peter George. Two seats remain in doubt.
Neither of the major parties will achieve the 18 seats needed to govern in majority.
Braddon Liberal MP Felix Ellis said Mr Winter "must abandon his continuing arrogant push to grab power".
Mr Winter, who has not spoken publicly since Sunday, will give a media conference later today.
Labor has also been contacted for comment.
Independent David O'Byrne, a former Labor leader whose seat is secure in Franklin, said he was in discussions with both Mr Rockliff and Mr Winter.
He told ABC Radio Hobart he met with Mr Winter in person on Monday — the first time he said he had met with Mr Winter for "a number of years".
Mr O'Byrne said he would meet with Mr Winter again on Friday.
Mr O'Byrne said while it was "possible" for Labor to form a government, it would be difficult with just 10 seats.
"I was in a parliament of 25 [seats] and we [Labor] had 10 members and we formed government and that was very difficult with 25. With 35 [seats] it's a far bigger challenge."
He said there needed to be respect both ways.
"Whilst the major parties need to be respectful that independents were elected and they need to listen to the independents, also the independents need to be respectful of the fact that close to 70 per cent of people voted for one of the three major parties."
He said he would not be "horse trading" on policy as part of negotiations with the parties.
Mr O'Byrne said he would provide a letter of intent around confidence and supply, and beyond that would consider each issue on its merits.
"So it's not a blank cheque from me," he said.
Mr Rockliff said the previous parliament, in which the Liberals governed in minority with support from some crossbenchers, had been "working well".
He also responded to questions about Tasmania's budget — the dire state of which was one of the main reasons Labor's no-confidence motion in Mr Rockliff succeeded and paved the way for the early election.
A Treasury report found Tasmania was headed for $13 billion of debt by 2028, $3 billion more than the government predicted in the June budget.
"That's what they [Treasury] did say and that's because they weren't taking into account … our budget, so our budget was better than those projections because we had savings within our budget, and sensible savings at that," Mr Rockliff said.
He also repeated the Liberals had no plans to raise taxes and charges to increase revenue.
"We haven't committed to that because raising taxes in a cost of living challenging times like this is not the way to do it."