A senior Labor MP has admitted her party faces an uphill battle to form government, ahead of a no-confidence motion against Premier Jeremy Rockliff being moved in parliament tomorrow.
Speaking on Sunday afternoon, Labor’s Janie Finlay said conjuring up support would be a challenge for the party.
“The next few days – anything is possible and Jeremy is masterful at mucking stuff up,” she said.
“So it doesn’t look great at the moment, but never say never and we will work right through to the end.”
Parliament returns on Tuesday, when Labor leader Dean Winter will make a second attempt to topple the Liberal government.
But for now, his push looks unlikely to succeed, with Labor still short of the crossbench support it needs.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said last week they could not back the motion “at this stage” due to a lack of policy compromise from Labor.
Former Labor leader David O’Byrne, now sitting as an independent, has also ruled out supporting his former party, though he will provide confidence and supply to Rockliff.
Winter today reaffirmed Labor would not trade off key industries to win over the crossbench, accusing the Liberals of doing just that in recent days with salmon and native forest logging.
“I said I won’t sell out my values and I’ve kept my word,” he said.
“The same can’t be said for Jeremy Rockliff. He has broken his core commitments to regional Tasmania and to these workers.”
Labor is centring its pitch on budget repair and integrity, which Winter said should be enough to win support.
“Parliamentarians have everything they need to be able to make their decision. It’s about who they can trust,” he said.
