Premier Jeremy Rockliff has called on Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff to withdraw a comment likening him to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
The question time exchange came a day after Rockliff became the first Tasmanian premier censured by parliament.
The censure followed weeks of questioning over taxpayer-funded legal fees racked up by two former ministers in secret court action against the Integrity Commission.
Madeleine Ogilvie and Jane Howlett both quit cabinet in recent weeks amid accusations they had misled parliament.
Tensions flared on Thursday when Rockliff called Labor leader Josh Willie “mate” during a question about the contentious Wilkinsons Point land deal.
Woodruff objected that the term was unparliamentary.
“I think that is really unparliamentary language. Perhaps we could cease the use of mate,” she said.
Rockliff hit back at the double standard, pointing to Woodruff’s earlier comparison of him to Stalin.
“So Stalin is all right, is it? Stalin is all right, is it? I call on you to withdraw the Stalin comment,” he said.
“Mate is no good, but Stalin is fine? Comparing me to a murderous regime.”
He returned to it throughout question time.
“I am happy to be criticised for many things, but murdering my own people is not one of those that I accept,” he said.
The debate also turned to Rockliff’s leadership, with Woodruff pressing him over a run of ministerial departures.
She argued it pointed to a deeper problem in how he ran his cabinet.
“Do you recognise you need to lift your game and change?” she said.
Rockliff did not answer directly. Instead, he turned the question back on the Greens, suggesting the party had its own leadership troubles.
“It is a bit ironic you speak of leadership when one of your members wanted to go north, your deputy leader reflected on the last election result and ‘everyone did better except Rosalie’ and one of your members has gone west,” Rockliff said.
The remarks drew in Lyons MP Tabatha Badger, who earlier this year unsuccessfully nominated for a Greens Senate vacancy.
They also targeted Helen Burnett, who left the party to become an independent.
After question time, Badger rose to make a personal explanation, rejecting any suggestion her Senate bid reflected poorly on Woodruff.
She said the implication was “fundamentally false”.
“It was a rare and extraordinary opportunity, as you would appreciate and it was a privilege to have nominated for that with the full support of our leadership,” Badger said.
“It is an opportunity and I would like to think if any of your Liberal ministers were to nominate for your current vacancy, good on them. That’s not a reflection of your leadership, premier.”
She said framing her ambition as anything else did “a disservice to politics in 2026, when we should be encouraging more people to stand”.
