Labor leader Rebecca White has declared her party ‘ready to go’ for an election and prepared to form a government if elected.
White says the Liberal government has “completely lost the ability to govern” and believes they are ‘unlikely to survive the next fortnight’ before Parliament returns.
“The people of our state were promised stable, majority government,” White said.
“But due to Jeremy Rockliff’s weak and ineffective leadership Liberal members are turning on one another and have lost sight of the reason they were elected in the first place.”
“It seems more than likely Jeremy Rockliff won’t survive this latest debacle involving his former Attorney General and his party room will either replace him with the ultra-conservative, hard-right Michael Ferguson as leader or force him to an early election.”
White said a possible motion of no-confidence against the government may be presented to Parliament when it resumes, with The Greens poised to lend their support.
While former Attorney-General Elise Archer is yet to officially resign from Parliament, she has said she will continue to “take some time” to make a final decision about whether to stay on as an Independent.
“The events of the past few days have had a profound impact on me,” Archer said in a brief statement on Monday.
“I would like to thank everyone who has reached out to offer me their best wishes and support.”
“However, as I have stated previously I will now take some time to consider my options.”
“While I understand the significant interest, during this time I will not be providing any further commentary or interviews while I make a decision.”
“The question is now for the Premier as to what he will do.”
Premier Jeremy Rockliff has defended his ‘correct decision’ to kick Archer out of the party and called on her to ‘resign as she said she would’.
“I don’t want an election … Tasmanians don’t want an election. There is too much to do. We have some very critical decisions to make,” the Premier said on Monday.
“My intention is to do what’s best for Tasmanians and my preference is to come back for the Parliament and to continue to get the job done.”
