Updated 7:15pm, Wednesday June 17: Jeremy Rockliff has been censured by Tasmania’s parliament, the first premier in the state’s history to face such a rebuke.
The motion, targeting his handling of ministerial standards, passed 16-12 late on Wednesday evening.
Labor, the Greens and most crossbenchers backed it. The Liberals, independent George Razay and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Carlo Di Falco opposed it.
The Greens brought the motion this morning, alleging Rockliff breached the ministerial code over former ministers Madeleine Ogilvie and Jane Howlett.
The debate ate up most of the day, sidelining budget bills.
It also faulted him for not making Ogilvie correct the record after she misled parliament and for dodging questions in budget estimates.
A censure is symbolic, carrying no legal weight.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said Rockliff had created a serious situation for himself and deserved censure.
Rockliff cautioned against a dangerous precedent, arguing accountability had to be measured.
“A censure is not a signalling device, a tool for political pressure, not to be deployed simply because the numbers are there,” he said.
“If this meets the bar for censure, then what does not?”
He said he had apologised and acted to fix things.
Earlier: The Tasmanian Greens have moved to censure premier Jeremy Rockliff, accusing him of failing to uphold integrity standards over the resignations of two ministers.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff moved to suspend standing orders in the House of Assembly on Wednesday so the censure motion could be debated immediately during budget week.
The motion lists six grounds, including failing to uphold the ministerial code of conduct over former ministers Madeleine Ogilvie and Jane Howlett and refusing to answer questions during budget estimates.
“Integrity is fundamental to good governance. We need to trust the premier and his chosen ministers that they are acting with integrity at every juncture,” Woodruff said.
“But by his recent actions and his failure to act, the premier has broken this trust.”
“The culture of secrecy, of corruption and cover-ups has pervaded so deeply into the operations of government that we are now in a place where doubt is being cast on every word out of the premier’s mouth.”
Leader of the House Eric Abetz said the government would not oppose the suspension but would defend the premier.
“We will be fighting for the premier because we believe in his integrity and his capacity to lead our state,” he said.
Abetz said the issues had already been dealt with, noting both ministers had left the front bench.
Labor MP Ella Haddad said her party would also support the suspension.
Haddad said it was an important matter that parliament needed to consider.
