Of the two major parties in Tasmania, only one of them is actually engaging in the kind of politics currently required by the Tasmanian electorate: the Liberals under Jeremy Rockliff. Labor, despite going backwards at the election it forced on Tasmanians in July, is sullenly demanding that the old rules of majority government be imposed whether voters want it or not.
After losing the support of former Labor leader David O’Byrne and independent Kristie Johnston, Labor’s Dean Winter yesterday lost the Greens as well. Winter has been playing tough guy and snapping “no deals” at the idea of a minority Labor government for so long he proved incapable of doing the basics of negotiating for power in a hung parliament. The Greens’ media release from leader Rosalie Woodruff said it all:
Labor’s final position on their policies was communicated by letter last night. They confirmed in writing their refusal to consider policy compromise on the key issues the Greens were elected to fight for … In contrast, over the last week the Liberals have announced some significant policy shifts.
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Put another way, Rockliff and the Liberals have been prepared to recognise the reality of minority government and worked out what they’re prepared to compromise on to achieve power. Winter and Labor have opted for demanding that they be allowed to govern with no compromise, as if they had secured government in their own right. It’s been the political equivalent of Winter sticking his fingers in his ears and yelling over everyone else.
Tasmanian Labor is now furiously trying to spin its own failure to negotiate with the Greens as proof of a “Liberal-Green government“. It’s a conspiracy theory without conspirators. Winter’s main argument is that the Greens have betrayed progressive voters. But that claim only works if you seriously believe that Tasmanian Labor would be a more progressive government than the Liberals.
Despite the presence in Rockliff’s government of right-wing ogres like federal Liberal reject Eric Abetz, the major parties share bipartisan positions on the major issues facing Tasmania. Winter is a dogged supporter of Tasmanian’s vile salmon farming industry and an enthusiastic backer of continuing to waste millions on the Tasmanian greyhound abuse industry — now slated for termination by Rockliff. He took no climate or environmental protection policies to the election. None of these positions were up for discussion in the aftermath of an election in which Labor went materially backwards in its vote, and now represents only twice as many Tasmanians as the Greens.
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In defiance of that result — and the overall result, which left the major parties well short of majorities — Winter and Tasmanian Labor insist that they’re right, and everyone else, including nearly 75% of the electorate, is wrong. It’s been nearly 20 years since Labor last governed in Tasmania, and the party’s continuing refusal to adjust to an electorate that wants minority government is going to keep it out of power for another spell.
Is it time for Tasmanian Labor change tack?
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