Latest news with #TasmanianLabor
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Josh Willie named new Tasmanian Labor leader after party officially concedes election defeat
Tasmanian Labor has replaced Dean Winter as parliamentary leader, with Josh Willie elected unopposed to serve as the state's new opposition leader. The party, which has been in opposition for 11 years, met for more than seven hours on Wednesday before announcing Willie's appointment. 'Tasmanian Labor has a proud history and I look forward to giving this role everything I've got to return Labor to government,' he said in a statement. It came a day after Winter's bid to take power via a no-confidence motion in parliament fell spectacularly flat. Sign up: AU Breaking News email Neither the incumbent Liberal government (14 seats) nor Labor (10) got the 18 seats needed for majority at a snap poll on 19 July, meaning both parties had spent the past month courting the 11-member crossbench in an attempt to form government. Tasmania's governor had declared that in the absence of a confidence and supply agreement, Jeremy Rockliff would remain premier as the incumbent, but Winter had flagged a motion of no confidence in the Liberals on the first day of the new parliament. None of the crossbench, made up of up five Greens, five independents and one Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP, backed Winter's bid on Tuesday. The result meant the election was declared officially lost by Labor, with party rules meaning the leadership was automatically spilled as a result. Winter was criticised by several crossbench MPs on Tuesday for failing to compromise during policy negotiations. The Liberals made a number of concessions to the largely left-leaning crossbench, including a pledge to ban greyhound racing and review salmon farming. Labor suffered a 3% swing against it at the election and picked up 25.9% of the primary vote, the party's worst election result in more than a century. Winter, who assumed the Labor leadership 16 months ago, said he took 'full responsibility' for the election result and it was 'understandable' for the party to have a new leader. He accused Rockliff of selling out workers by shifting positions. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'Some say that politics is the art of compromise, but compromise does not and should not mean capitulation,' said Winter, who will continue as an MP for the seat of Franklin. Willie, from the party's left faction, was a teacher before entering politics and spent eight years in the upper house before being elected in the lower house in 2024. Janie Finlay has been elected as deputy leader, replacing Anita Dow. The Greens and several independents said they lacked faith in the Liberals, but had less faith that Labor could form a workable government. Rockliff said it was time to 'get on with the job' and policy shifts were a recognition of a minority scenario. Tasmania's fourth election in seven years was triggered after Rockliff lost a no-confidence motion in June that criticised the state's ballooning budget debt.
ABC News
29-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Hobart City Council pursuing Labor on costs to remove election signage, but no edict to pay
Tasmanian Labor will need to decide whether to ignore or pay a request for payment from Hobart City Council for the clean-up costs of election material from city bus stops, bins and power poles. The request, raised at the council's meeting on Monday night, would seek to recoup between $4,000 and $5,000 incurred for a three-person crew to remove "TassieDoc" stickers from the CBD, Sandy Bay and New Town. The stickers, promoting a Labor election promise, appeared in the lead-up to the state's snap election on July 19. "Apart from the cost incurred by the city, it is entirely inappropriate for city assets to be used unlawfully for political promotion," Hobart City Council then-acting chief executive Michael Reynolds wrote in a letter to the political party, dated July 17. "A number of the city's poles, bins and bus stop infrastructure have also been scratched or paint lifted when the stickers/posters were removed," he wrote. But Monday night's motion at the city council's weekly meeting acknowledged Labor may not be behind the promotional material. "There is no suggestion that the placement of the stickers was authorised or supported by the Tasmanian Labor Party," Councillor Louise Elliot, who tabled the motion, said. "That said, multiple Labor volunteers were recorded and identified placing Labor's promotional material on council infrastructure." Election signage rules under the Tasmanian Planning Scheme [TPS] state that all campaign material must be removed within seven days after an election. The optional nature of the request for payment leaves the door open for Labor to ignore it. "It could very well be Labor's prerogative to say, 'no, get stuffed. We're not gonna pay that invoice,'" Cr Elliot said. "But I think if I was Mr Winter, I would be saying 'let's pay this as a gesture of goodwill.'" The wording of Cr Elliot's motion originally suggested an invoice should be issued to Labor. But the chamber heard that council invoices could only be issued for goods or services. It was suggested a request for payment be sent instead. Another option for the council would be to endorse an investigation into the individuals involved, which could lead to the recovery of costs through the magistrates' court. "Going through the investigating and researching and options stage, that just costs ratepayers more. Instead, we can hopefully nip it in the bud," Cr Elliot said. The motion passed 8–3, with Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds in support. Speaking on ABC Hobart's Mornings program, Cr Reynolds said, "it does cost the ratepayers money to clean stickers off poles". Hobart City Councillor Louise Bloomfield said the Labour Party benefited from the stickers' placement. "What I like about this motion is it actually starts to set some precedent," Cr Bloomfield said. "It starts to send the message out that if you're going to run [for office], this isn't acceptable because sadly this is not the first time this has happened." Councillor Ryan Posselt, who is a Labor member, abstained from voting but made his position clear during last night's discussion. "I'm not sure, other than for political reasons, why we would go ambulance-chasing the Labor Party when we have the identity of the people who broke the law," Cr Posselt said. He said a council investigation should continue with the aim of holding the individuals responsible. "The party itself didn't sanction it. This was the action of either a rogue campaign for an individual candidate, or rogue people associated with that campaign." The Tasmanian Labor Party has been contacted for comment.
ABC News
20-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Dean Winter, Jeremy Rockliff both start talks with crossbenchers as they look to form government
The Tasmanian Liberal and Labor leaders have reached out to the crossbench to discuss working together in the new parliament, following an election that returned largely the same result as the last. The Liberals are predicted to win at least 14 seats, Labor a maximum of 10. To reach a majority the parties would have needed to win 18 seats. Both are now hoping to form government with the support of members of the crossbench. At eight seats short, that is a pretty big task for Labor, but their advantage is that the crossbench will lean heavily progressive. Addressing the media on Sunday morning, Labor Leader Dean Winter said he would give Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff the first opportunity to demonstrate he had the support of the crossbench. "We need to see, wait and get the final results, but over the course of the next few days, we'll be speaking to crossbenchers and making sure they understand where Labor stands," Mr Winter said. "But what I … do want to reiterate is that Tasmanian Labor will not do deals with the Greens. I repeated that hundreds of times during the election campaign and I will not change." Mr Winter said Labor was not going to go back on its principles, but he would collaborate with crossbenchers and treat them with respect. "Tasmanian Labor believes in jobs — safe, secure, well paid jobs — and we support traditional industries that have been supporting Tasmanian regional communities," he said. "I've already been speaking to the business community this morning to reassure them that Tasmanian Labor won't be changing from our support for those things, but we will seek to collaborate better with the crossbench where we can find common interests. Mr Winter said he had spoken to a number of crossbenchers, but had not reached out to Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff. The Greens are expected to hold five seats in the new parliament. At best there will be six other members of the crossbench who Mr Winter could work with. When pushed on how he would govern without securing support from the Greens, Mr Winter continued to repeat that he would not do a deal with them, however when asked if he would accept their support with nothing conceded he was less clear. "The Greens make their own choices," he said. "They've made their choice to vote no-confidence in Jeremy Rockcliff and that's a matter for them." Premier Jeremy Rockliff has also been making his own calls to the crossbench. "I've reached out to potential crossbench members today, including conversations and my view is that the crossbench in the cold, hard light of day will recognise the party being the Liberal Party with the most number of seats are able to form a cabinet," he said on Sunday. "They recognise that over the course of the last 16 months since that March 2024 election that I have reached across the chamber, I have listened. "Yes, I've learnt a lot as well, of course, and my resolve to working collaboratively with crossbenchers has only been enhanced and strengthened by my experience over the course of the last 12 months." Mr Rockliff said while he wanted to work with the crossbench, he would not be compromising any key commitments or principles. "Not every single member of parliament can have 100 per cent of what they want 100 per cent of the time, and Tasmanians would look very poorly on any individual member of parliament, whether they be in a political party or not, that held the parliament to ransom," he said. Mr Rockliff said he told crossbenchers he wanted to make this parliament work and that Tasmanians wanted an end to the political games. He argued crossbenchers should support his party. "We all want a stable parliament and a stable parliament with a government that has been re-elected with at least the same number of seats is the way forward." Mr Rockliff did not concede that he failed to manage the crossbench in the last parliament. He said he would wait until all the votes are counted before going to the Governor to ask for his government to be recommissioned.
ABC News
24-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Tasmanian government accused of freezing nursing and other frontline service jobs
Tasmanian Labor has accused Premier Jeremy Rockliff of breaking his promise to exclude nurses and frontline services from job cuts. In March, the state government announced a hiring freeze for non-essential public service positions in an effort to reel in the state's finances. But Labor said a recently released list of recruitment roles from the Health and Education departments painted a different picture. The list, provided by Treasurer Guy Barnett in response to a question Shadow Treasurer Josh Willie asked in parliament on May 7, shows job requests that have been rejected under the state government's vacancy-control and hiring-freeze policies. It outlines recruitment requests not approved since March 3 this year. "This is an important transparency measure. We have a government that has been less than transparent when it comes to managing the budget," Mr Willie told parliament on May 7. For the Department of Education, Children and Young People, there have been 18 requests not approved, including for roles such as librarians, project officers, senior communications officers and a human resources manager. In the Health Department, 16 roles have not been filled. They include nursing staff, a clinical coordinator, communications advisers, and administration roles. There have also been several roles not filled in the Justice, Police, Fire and Emergency Services, State Growth and Natural Resources and Environment departments. Labor leader Dean Winter said the state government needed to explain how roles such as nurses were not essential. "Having positions like nurses affected by a freeze puts more pressure on other staff. And, speaking with nurses directly, particularly through the ANMF [Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation], I know these are cuts they can't afford. "So either the government, Jeremy Rockliff, has broken his promise, in terms of frontline resources, or they don't believe that nurses are frontline workers … [but] of course they are. They've broken their promise." The state government has been contacted for comment.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Australian 'fiasco' ferry ordered to leave Edinburgh
A newly-constructed Australian ferry will be moved from Edinburgh to the other side of the world after leasing negotiations broke down. Often described as a "fiasco", the Spirit of Tasmania IV has been docked in Leith for three months due to issues with existing infrastructure in the Tasmanian city of Devonport. Operator TT-Line said it had been engaging with a broker to lease the ferry, however an agreement could not be reached. The Tasmanian government has now ordered the ferry operator to relocate the 212m-long (695ft) vessel to the island. The ship was built at a yard in Finland, but had to be moved to Scotland before winter over concerns it could be damaged by pack ice. A new berth to accommodate the ship, and sister vessel Spirit of Tasmania V, may not be ready until late 2026 or 2027 and the saga has sparked a huge political row in Australia. More stories from Edinburgh, Fife & East More stories from Scotland The vessel was due to operate in the Bass Strait, between Tasmania and the Australian state of Victoria, and had been described as a "game-changer" for the island's tourism industry. However, it has seen a series of delays in its construction, skyrocketing costs and problems upgrading the current berths - mirroring many of Scotland's own ferry problems. Tasmania's infrastructure minister, Michael Ferguson, and the chairman of ferry operator TT-Line, which is state-owned, resigned due to the controversy in August. The cost of building the two LNG dual-fuel ships has risen by A$94m (£47.5m) from A$850m (£430m) when the contract was signed in 2021. Meanwhile the cost of upgrading current infrastructure in Devonport, which handles about 450,000 passengers a year, has more than quadrupled from an original estimate of A$90m (£45.5m). TT-Line was paying A$47,534 (£24,031) per week to berth the ship at Forth Ports, according to figures published by the Tasmanian government. Last week Australian media reported there was a possibility of the ferry being used to house Ukrainian refugees in Scotland. However the Scottish government quickly dismissed this saying: "This is not true and we have no plans to lease this or any other vessel for this purpose." Tasmania's transport minister Eric Abetz said that the government had done all it could to secure a lease that would benefit Tasmanians. He said: "We had an opportunity to secure an agreement worth tens of millions of dollars for the Tasmanian taxpayer, and it would have been economically irresponsible not to explore this. "Previous similar leases provided more than €50m (£41.2m) to vessel owners, and it was prudent that we sought similar arrangements for Tasmanian taxpayers. "The relentless negativity is hurting the state's economic opportunities, and it's time to move forward together." Tasmanian Labor, the opposition party, welcomed the "backflip" from the government but said it came four months and and millions of dollars too late. A spokesman said: "The ferry fiasco has been the biggest infrastructure stuff-up in Tasmania's history, but the cover-up has been even worse than the crime." Australian 'ferries fiasco' ship docks in Edinburgh Huge Australian 'fiasco' ship to be mothballed in Edinburgh
