Australia’s Tasmania on track for minority government in the state after poll
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Voters entering a polling place at Tranmere Hall in Howrah, Australia, on July 19.
PHOTO: EPA
Follow topic:
SYDNEY – Australia’s island state of Tasmania appeared headed for a minority government on July 20 as vote counting continued after an election that did not produce a clear winner.
The conservative Liberal government was on track to win more seats than the main Labor opposition in the new Parliament but would likely fall short of a majority after the July 19 election, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The strong performance by the Liberals under Mr Jeremy Rockliff, the Premier since 2022, comes after the party suffered a heavy defeat at the May national election, which saw Anthony Albanese-led Labor returned for a second term with an increased majority.
Mr Rockliff said in televised remarks from state capital Hobart that the July 19 vote showed Tasmanians “have no confidence in the Labor party to form government and they have voted to reindorse our Liberal government”.
The result for Labor, on track to win nine seats out of a possible 35, was shaping up as the worst-ever result for the party in Tasmania, Guardian Australia reported.
On July 20, state Labor leader Dean Winter said the result was disappointing for the party, but he did not concede defeat.
The election was triggered by a no-confidence vote against Mr Rockliff initiated by Labor on concerns about public debt and plans to privatise assets.
It came less than two years after the state’s most recent poll, in which a majority eluded the Liberals.
Tasmania is the only Australian state that uses proportional representation to elect its Lower House and has a long history of minority governments.
The southern state is a one-hour flight or 10-hour ferry crossing from the mainland city of Melbourne, 445km away. Forty per cent of the island is wilderness or protected areas. REUTERS
