The Liberal Party is expected to form a minority government again in Tasmania after last weekend’s election.
This means that neither major party won enough seats to govern in a majority, so the Liberal Party will have to negotiate with the crossbench to form government.
Election
Tasmania went to an early election on the weekend.
Tasmania’s Premier Jeremy Rockliff called the election after negotiations broke down with two ex-Liberal MPs, leaving his government with just 10 seats.
As of this election, a party needs to have 18 seats to hold a majority government in Tasmania.
Tasmania is the only jurisdiction in Australia governed by the Liberal party.
Results
While counting hasn’t finished, it’s likely the Liberal Party will form a minority government in the state. It will achieve this by negotiating with the crossbench (independents) to pass its most important bills.
Labor leader Rebecca White conceded over the weekend it will be “very hard for Labor to win government”.
ABC election analyst Antony Green projects the Liberal party will win 14 seats, which is four seats short of a majority.
Negotiations
Premier Jeremy Rockliff confirmed on the weekend that he had “already reached out to potential independents” and that discussions will happen “over the coming week”.
Those discussions are likely to include the Jacqui Lambie Network, which picked up state seats for the first time.
Rockliff said the incoming Parliament must “work together, to put aside our differences, to ensure that we work… for Tasmanians.”
Formal results may be weeks away.
