Former premier Peter Gutwein says Speaker Michelle O’Byrne faces a decision that could make or break Tasmania’s AFL dreams when she casts what is expected to be the deciding vote on a no-confidence motion against Premier Jeremy Rockliff today.
The political drama in Hobart has hit boiling point, with Gutwein warning that toppling the government could wreck both the state’s football hopes and its economic stability.
Speaking on SEN Tassie Breakfast this morning, Gutwein delivered a blistering attack on Labor leader Dean Winter’s decision to move the motion.
“I think he’s lit a fuse with a view that the bomb would never go off and unfortunately it looks like it’s about to,” Gutwein said as parliament prepared to resume debate at 10am.
The vote is tipped to fall 17–17, leaving O’Byrne with the deciding say from the Speaker’s chair.
Her decision, Gutwein said, will determine whether Rockliff survives mounting pressure over the state budget, Spirit of Tasmania ferry delays, asset sales and the new stadium at Macquarie Point.
While Michelle O’Byrne, as Labor’s Speaker, holds the casting vote, her brother David – the former Labor leader who quit the party two years ago – now sits as an independent MP backing both the stadium and the premier.
Rockliff’s leadership has come under sustained attack over his handling of multiple crises, but Gutwein argued that toppling the government would create chaos with no clear path forward for the Hobart stadium.
“This fuse that Dean Winter and his advisers have lit, if the bomb goes off, it’ll have catastrophic consequences because there is no clear pathway for the stadium,” he said.
The former premier warned that an election would derail the stadium bill currently before parliament, as the legislature would be dissolved before any vote could take place.
“If we go to an election and upend the budget process right now, that will create enormous uncertainty across the economy. This isn’t just about football anymore. This is about the broader economy,” Gutwein said.
“It’s about every household in Tasmania, because the uncertainty that’s been created will impact upon investment. Lack of investment will impact upon jobs. You know, it is potentially catastrophic.”
Gutwein suggested Winter’s team may have miscalculated, believing they could apply pressure without actually bringing down the government.
“I fully, I sincerely believe that in laying down that motion, they didn’t expect to get to this point so quickly,” he said.
“To be frank, to do this in the middle of the budget process was irresponsible. The broader, it has much broader ramifications than just football and it will impact on the economy.”
The former premier made a direct appeal to Michelle O’Byrne to use her casting vote to defeat the motion rather than stepping down to vote anonymously on the floor.
“All roads lead back to the Speaker of the House, to that final casting vote,” Gutwein said.
“She could end this madness this morning. I hope that she will use her common sense and say that this madness has to stop. Let’s not bring down Jeremy Rockliff.”
SPEAKER:
Michelle O’Byrne (Speaker)
FOR (17 Votes)
Labor:
Dean Winter
Anita Dow
Shane Broad
Meg Brown
Jen Butler
Casey Farrell
Janie Finlay
Ella Haddad
Josh Willie
Greens:
Rosalie Woodruff
Vica Bayley
Cecily Rosol
Tabatha Badger
Helen Burnet
Independent:
Craig Garland
Kristie Johnston
Jacqui Lambie Network:
Andrew Jenner
AGAINST (17 Votes)
Liberal:
Jeremy Rockliff
Guy Barnett
Eric Abetz
Simon Behrakis
Felix Ellis
Rob Fairs
Michael Ferguson
Jane Howlett
Roger Jaensch
Madeleine Ogilvie
Jacquie Petrusma
Mark Shelton
Nic Street
Simon Wood
Independent:
David O’Byrne
Miriam Beswick
Rebekah Pentland
