UPDATE: David Bartlett will remain Premier of Tasmania after a tumultuous day in Tasmanian politics.
Newly reappointed Premier David Bartlett has told reporters he is happy to remain in the top job.
A press release from the Governor Peter Underwood's office this afternoon confirmed that Mr Bartlett had been commissioned to form a new minority government.
The Governor's advice
Mr Bartlett has denied Liberal accusations that he reneged on his commitment to hand over government.
"I kept my commitment to the Tasmanian people that, in the event of the Liberals winning more of the popular vote, I would give them the first opportunity to form government.
"Will Hodgman has been unable to do so.
"The responsibility rests with me to form a government and that is what I intend to do."
Mr Bartlett said commitments last week not to support a motion of no confidence in the Liberals were misreported.
The Liberals have accused Mr Bartlett of deceit in retracting earlier assurances of support in a Liberal Government.
Ahead of Will Hodgman's press conference, Liberal staff have released a letter written by Mr Bartlett to Governor Peter Underwood.
In it he said public statements that Labor would not move or support a motion of no confidence in the Liberals had been taken out of context and misquoted.
A furious Mr Hodgman said he was disgusted in Mr Bartlett for reversing commitments he gave to the Tasmanian people.
He said the Liberals would immediately move a motion of no confidence in an "illegitimate" government.
Mr Hodgman also lashed out at the Greens for cooking up an 11th hour deal to support Labor.
"The Greens tried to blackmail the other political parties.
"In his lust for power Mr McKim has backed an illegitimate government that has no moral authority to govern.
"All Tasmanians will be disgusted at these developments."
The Greens have pledged their support to a Labor Government, promising not to move or support motions of no confidence or block budget supply.
For most of the day Mr Underwood has remained holed up in Hobart's Government House considering his constitutional options.
Conspicuously, Tasmanian Greens' leader Nick McKim was not called to talk with the Governor this morning, despite his overnight bombshell offering support to the incumbent Labor government.
Late this afternoon Liberal leader Will Hodgman and Mr Bartlett were summoned separately to Government House in Hobart to hear the final decision from Governor Peter Underwood on who will form the next government.
Mr Hodgman arrived first, fanning strong speculation that he had missed out on the premiership, as traditional the loser is the first to be told of the Governor's decision.
Then 40 minutes later Mr Bartlett arrived and ran into Government House. After a short meeting he emerged without making a comment.
It is expected parliament will be recalled within week.
Mr McKim said the decision to support a Labor Government was ostensibly taken to ensure Tasmania had stable government in place, even if that meant a returned Labor one.
But the move is also clearly designed to force the Will Hodgman-led Liberals to deal with the Greens, unless they want to see the chance of power slipping from their grasp.
Neither Labor nor Liberal Party figures contacted the Greens Party this morning to discuss its surprise new support for returning a minority Labor government to power.
But Mr McKim defended his decision to back the Labor Government over the Liberal Opposition.
He said the bold step was taken simply because Labor, with its 13 members in both houses of parliament, offered a greater chance of a workable and stable new government than the 11-member Liberals.
Mr McKim said the promise not to block supply, and not to move or support no-confidence motions, did not mean the Greens now agreed with Labor policies.
The Greens leader said his five MPs would still vote on key policies such as the reversal of the Tasmanian Tomorrow education reforms, the Tarkine road, the pulp mill and the future of Tasmania's' native forests, according to their own election policy positions.
Mr McKim said the decision to support a Labor government did not lock or tie the Greens into agreeing with Labor's policies on the floor of parliament.
"We have taken this decision [to support Labor and not the Liberals], simply because Labor is the incumbent government," Mr McKim said.
"There is no point in changing government for the sake of it; we are just following through on our commitment to do all we can to deliver stable government."
But the Liberal Party today again ruled out doing any deals with the Greens, even if it meant Labor continued in power.
The March 20 election delivered a 12 per cent swing against the 12-year majority Labor Government.
It resulted in a hung parliament in which no party has a majority of Lower House seats, with both Labor and the Liberals winning 10 seats each.
The Greens hold the balance of power with the five remaining seats in 25-member House of Assembly.
http://www.themercury.com.au/art ... 38651_election.html |
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