Updated 745pm, Tuesday November 19: The state government has avoided being sent off to an early election.
After several hours of debate in state parliament, a motion of no-confidence in Premier Jeremy Rockliff was defeated 26-6.
Labor did not support the motion, while The Greens and independent Kristie Johnston did.
Updated 4pm, Tuesday November 19: Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has made his first appearance in Parliament since The Greens launched a no-confidence motion against him.
In a passionate speech, Rockliff said the people of Tasmania do not want an early election.
“They want a government that was elected on March 23 to get on with the job,” he said.
“But should this motion pass, I will go to the Governor and I’ll have no choice but to call an election.”
“So be it on your heads. For the petty politics that you are playing today in terms of a policy difference only.”
Rockliff said the government has “too much to do”.
“Tasmanians are looking at us very seriously right now in terms of ‘Do we have the capability to argue policy difference without blowing the show up?’,” he said.
12pm, Tuesday November 19: The Greens have launched a no-confidence motion against Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, accusing him of lying to the public about the mandatory pre-commitment card policy for electronic gaming machines.
Greens Leader Rosalie Woodruff claims the Premier has “sold out” the nation-leading Liberal policy to the gaming lobby and “deliberately lied” about it during the state election campaign.
“The Premier is a liar who cannot be trusted by his own party room and cabinet, the Parliament or the people of Tasmania,” she said.
“This is an incredibly urgent issue for the Parliament to debate.”
“It shows that the Premier has been deeply dishonest, has misled, has tricked and in fact has lied to Tasmanians on repeated questions that have been made to him about whether or not his government would continue the commitment to a mandatory pre-commitment card.”
Labor has supported the motion to debate, with MP Shane Broad saying they “believe that this government has lost its way”.
“We believe that the debate should be more broader than that and that we should debate the competence of the government and this Premier because they are a complete shambles,” he said.
Attorney-General Guy Barnett dismissed the motion as a “stunt” and a “joke”.
“You are stopping the government getting on with the job … and during the process you are besmirching the Premier’s reputation,” he said.
“You have used the most awful language, the most awful unparliamentary language, to besmirch the reputation of our Premier and it’s rejected and it’s shameful. It’s shameful that it’s happening in this place.”
Independent David O’Byrne said the matter is “serious” and must be heard.
“The consequences of a no confidence motion passing in the Premier are significant for all of us in this place, for the people of Tasmania and that needs to be considered in the debate,” he said.
More on this story: No-confidence motion could force Tasmanian election before Christmas
