Treasurer Eric Abetz has not ruled out putting his hand up to be premier one day.
Abetz made the comments on the Poll Position podcast, which was recorded on the Hobart Show Day public holiday and published today.
Co-host Brad Stansfield, a former media adviser to Abetz, referenced speculation Premier Jeremy Rockliff was considering stepping down early next year and had been promoting Archer as his successor.
“I will leave the speculation to the speculators,” Abetz said.
Asked whether he would sit back and let Archer take over if Rockliff stepped down, the treasurer did not rule out seeking the leadership himself, saying any such matters were up to the party room.
Asked whether Health Minister Bridget Archer would make a good premier, Abetz did not directly answer.
“I think we’ve got a wonderful, wonderful team full of talent, full of potential premiers,” he said. “But the good news is we’ve got a good premier in Jeremy Rockliff, who has won us, uh, two elections.”
He said Rockliff would stay “as long as he wants to serve”.
Rockliff chose Archer to act as premier in July. Asked whether that decision made him scratch his head, Abetz said “it’s within his gift”.
Rockliff ruled out retiring before the end of the year at a media conference on October 15.
“There’s been rumblings about my retirement for 20 years, can I say,” he said. “So, you know, I’m not going anywhere.”
On the budget, Abetz said he would like to think efforts to fix Tasmania’s budget are going “as good as it can be”, as departments look for savings.
He also confirmed up to $20 million a year over five years promised to Bell Bay Aluminium is new spending that was not in the budget.
“Clearly it wasn’t in the budget,” he said. “The circumstances have arisen since the budget.”
The treasurer said $20 million a year was the maximum and the final figure would depend on the price of aluminium.
“Instinctively I don’t like corporate welfare,” Abetz said, adding that “there’s always the exception to the rule”.
State government departments have been told to find $1.5 billion in savings, including $700 million in health.
Abetz said budget papers showed health spending increasing every year.
“There’s no contradiction in saying that you’re gonna be spending more on health, but you’re still looking for savings,” he said.
Ministers have been given savings targets and will decide where to find them in their own portfolios, he said, adding: “I don’t like playing in other people’s sandpits.”
On the Hobart stadium, Abetz would not say whether the government would contribute more if the project cost more than its $1.13 billion budget, citing a “live procurement process”.
He said he hoped a contract would be signed before Christmas.
Abetz said he would be able to say more about the budget’s progress when an economic report is released towards the end of the year.
