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The Forum > Article Comments > Labor flees to Opposition in Tasmania > Comments

Labor flees to Opposition in Tasmania : Comments

By Kate Crowley, published 6/4/2010

Tasmanians have entrusted the Greens with the balance of power. So what happens next and how will this work?

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Terrific observations, Kate Crowley.

Question is, will the Libs learn that it is the environment which sustains the economy, not vice-versa?

It is going to be a very interesting ride, if not a little bumpy.
Posted by Severin, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 10:44:00 AM
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With the rising of the Sun, Kate suddenly awakened. She had been having such a lovely dream..............
Posted by Aspley, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 11:19:45 AM
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"How will it go", probably very badly. The red/greens are communists to the core. How they could ever work with a conservative government is beyond all logic. Far more likely is a liberal/labour coalition.
Posted by Formersnag, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 11:40:06 AM
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An interesting and well-informed article. It will indeed be interesting to see how the Liberals and Greens work out their power sharing arrangement in Tasmania. Hopefully the Liberals will be a little more intelligent and honest than the ALP were under the previous 'accord'. As it stands, it looks like it will be quite some time before Labor governs again in Tasmania, if ever.

Formersnag, why do you think the Greens are "communists"? Have you read their policies? Do you actually know what communism is?
Posted by CJ Morgan, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 11:51:38 AM
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On March 20, the Tasmanian and South Australian governments faced election; in both States the major parties polled a shade under 80%, and the minor parties and independents a bit more than 20%. Yet in South Australia a majority government was elected, in Tasmania a hung parliament of 10, 10 and 5. The Greens won five due to the complex Hare Clark preferential voting system for multi member electorates.

Prior to the election the Premier David Bartlett, had said that in the event no party held a majority, then government should be formed by the party winning the most seats. When challenged he indicated that government should go to the party winning the most votes if the number of seats were the same. As the Liberals won by a margin of 2% of the vote, David Bartlett is honouring his promise and will resign and advise the Governor to appoint the Liberals.

Keeping of a political promise of this magnitude should be applauded. It is rare in today’s politics.

The Liberal leader, Will Hodgman, has responded by committing his party not to enter into any shady backroom deals but to test his support on the floor of the House in a completely open and transparent manner.
He has ruled out any negotiated deal with the greens such as the flawed Labor Green accord that cost Tasmania so much in the early 1990’s, that was engineered by a shady backroom deal.

If the political leaders of the Greens honour their promises to not block supply and not to support a vote of no confidence, then Tasmania should have stable government, regardless of a poll commissioned by the political activist group Get Up, who spent over $140,000 on political advertising for the Tasmanian election in a bid to influence its outcome.

Part of this campaign included a full page advertisement of 26 UTAS academics urging a change in governance based upon an opinion poll, so it is ironical that this article advocates for another shady back room deal, ‘a negotiated agreement’, based on yet another opinion poll.
Posted by cinders, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 3:31:42 PM
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The Greens did well and I say good on them .
Some of their idea's are progressive but unfortunately they seem to have an unfortunate contempt for the other side .
Confrontation sadly is their mantra , they easily forget that a lot of people voted and rely on individuals voted into Govt , they will serve themselves well not to exhibit so much bile and temper down some of the things they get fanatical about .
No doubt the Libs will be found writhing in pain many times in the next 3 years , who knows they might convert their captive Libs into Banning Everything !
Posted by ShazBaz001, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 6:15:03 PM
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It won't only be the Libs writhing in pain, it will be the state of Tasmania, as well.

I suppose it's what the people deserve, after all, they voted for it. How did they ever get that stupid system, anyway?

I wonder how long it will last? I suppose that depends on how much the leaders want to hang on to a bad situation.
Posted by Hasbeen, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 9:19:49 PM
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"Indeed, since the election, Get Up online has commissioned a poll that shows 72 per cent of Tasmanians preferring power sharing than one party trying to govern alone"

It would be very interesting to know more about this poll given that Get Up is an online activist organisation. If it was conducted on their website which is frequented by young idealists (and likely Green party supporters), it is hardly representative of the Tasmanian community.

"But the electorate has moved way past hydro-industrialisation and resource exploitation as economic panaceas and resonates far more clearly with the Greens message of clean, green, clever industry"

Yes, the electorate has moved on - that is why almost half of Tasmania's public lands and forests are already in national parks and conservation reserves.

Just what is the "clean, green, clever industry"? Tourism is often put forward to fit that bill. It is already substantial but it is a fairytale to expect it to expand and replace the resource use industries in terms of employment etc, particularly when efforts to increase visitor usage of park areas, such as the proposed Tarkine Road upgrade, are ironically opposed by those who comprise a substantial part of the Greens supporter base.

"The battle over the proposed billion-dollar pulp mill in the Tamar Valley wine district was the last resort"

It could be argued that a mill which is to value-add onto the state's eucalypt plantation estate is about as "green and clever" as industry could get. The expert advice suggests that the mill would have far less impact on the Tamar Valley's grapes than the sensibilities of their growers.
Posted by MWPOYNTER, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 9:48:04 PM
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Good try Cinders, this may surprise you but all twenty five seats were won due to the complex Hare Clark preferential voting system. On a first past the post basis the Greens would have still won five seats, they also topped the poll in two of the five electorates, you could also argue that the Hare Clark system actually cost the Greens a second seat in Denison (certainly more deserved on primary vote than the new member Archer!) If the Liberals are smart here (I doubt it though) and not haunted by previous minority governments in Tasmania and they work with the Greens, then as Kay said, Labor could be history...and history Labor deserves!
Posted by Scarneck, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 10:49:15 PM
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The current situation presents opportunities for positively changing the landscape of Tasmanian politics. No matter what, whichever Party takes the reins of Government they will have to negotiate with either the Opposition or the Greens, probably both.

In the interests of Tasmanians those involved need to consider the wider implications rather than hang on to the party political dogma of the past.

Minority government can certainly work if those involved are prepared to work together. Reversion to traditional adverserial politics will, however, deliver nothing other than the same as it has in the past.

Bottom line: it's time our politicians started thinking differently otherwise all they will be doing is consigning Tasmania and everyone who lives here to an extremely uncertain and inevitably financially damaging future.

The Hare Clarke system, like it or not, is supposed to be all about achieving representational outcomes - that's what we now have so now those elected bthrough this system must take the next step and introduce representational Government as intended by using this system.
Posted by balanced, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 10:17:04 AM
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In three of five Tasmanian electorates the Liberal party gained the most votes, with the ALP winning in the remaining two. Yet due to the number of strong candidates for each major party this vote was split between leading contenders, so it is hardly surprising that a green with 16% of the vote might top the poll, but its a long bow to conclude that such a vote would mean victory in a single member electorate.

Much more likely, as seen in South Australia and in other States and the Federal Parliament winning less than 20% of the vote means you do not get elected in a single member electorate regardless wether you are coloured green red or blue.

Clearly in Tasmania the Liberal Leader has claimed victory, and the ALP has conceded defeat, there is no need for any shady backroom deals to be done with the greens. Kate’s own work with the State Government in her role as the ALP appointed Chair of the Tasmanian Climate Action Council http://www.earnyourstars.tas.gov.au/action_council/council_members, shows just how irrelevant the greens political demands are to the State’s environment.

The latest figures show that since the Kyoto base year of 1990, thanks to the ALP and the Liberal governments have reduced emissions by a massive 24%. They have done so by not “negotiating” behind closed doors with the greens, since the disastrous Green ALP accord.

Let the support for the new Government be determined on the floor of the House of Assembly in the full glare of the media and the public. One task for the new government should be to hold an electoral commission to change the process of electing government to single member electorates, which according to Scarneck’s deductions; the greens would have nothing to fear.
Posted by cinders, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 12:41:58 PM
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Anything to keep the Greens out, eh cinders?

Across Tasmania, the Greens polled just over 21% of the vote and ended up with 20% of the seats. You'd rather that 21% of the electorate be unrepresented in government.

It's a bugger, that 'democracy' business, isn't it?
Posted by CJ Morgan, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 12:50:40 PM
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Well said CJ.

A true reflection of democracy. I can remember as a teenager in the UK in the 80s seeing the Liberals (third party in UK politics) getting 25% of the vote and only 20-odd seats in a 600 seat parliament more than once. About 20-25% of the population regularly voted for them, and they got about 3% of the seats. That certainly wasn't democracy.

I'd prefer the Tasmanian system.
Posted by Phil Matimein, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 2:29:13 PM
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Good question Kay, the decision now rests with our Queen's representative, the Governor of Tasmania...oh the irony if he forced Bartlett to take the floor of the house as leader of the Government (as he constitutionally must) what happens then is anybody's guess, Labor and Liberal bedmates would be like seeing Tiger Woods at the Sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gras, so we're left with the left controlling the left or the right going as left as they possibly can...Mmmmmm ;-)
and I fully agree cinders, single member electorates are a must as is non compulsory voting.
Posted by Scarneck, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 10:06:23 PM
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Well, Tasmanians have now got precisely what they collectively voted for - more of the same as the last three terms of government under Labor with the added ingredient of distinct uncertainty as a result of the Greens now being in a position to influence any and all government decision making in the Tasmanian Parliament.

This is a classic case of a completely indecisive electorate that, apparently, although highly dissatisfied with Labor, were incapable of making a change for the better for Tasmania. Essentially a vote for the Greens was, in effect, really a vote for Labor so those disaffected Labor voters who chose to vote Green actually achieved absolutely nothing; and that was always going to be the case, no matter what Bartlett and McKim may have to say about it as the dust settles. We now see what will become an unstable Labor/Green alliance

Tasmanian voters now have what they collectively deserve; precisely what they voted for: uncertainty and indecision from a government they apparently didn't want and a Premier elect who tried to tell everyone who would listen that he didn't want the job - what a laughing stock! The remainder of Australia will be left scratching their heads wondering which particular planet the people of Tasmania think they're living on - not the same one as everyone else by the looks of it! Yet another anachronism with Tasmanians leading the charge as usual.

The best thing the Liberals in Tasmania can now do is sit back and watch Labor and the Greens dig holes for themselves then gently push them as the opportunity arises. It's pretty much inevitable this will happen over time, once again no matter what sort of spin Bartlett and/or McKim try to put on it.
Posted by balanced, Friday, 9 April 2010 8:36:22 AM
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A week in Tasmanian politics has proved to be very long indeed. I think the past week has proved the effectiveness of our current system though. It is the Queen's representative who has come out as the most rational and composed player. Bartlett, Hodgeman and McKim have not come out so well. 65% of the electorate voted for left of centre parties (greens and labor) the outcome is appropriate - and the constitutional steps taken by the govenor have been deliberative and sound.
Posted by Jasper the Second, Friday, 9 April 2010 11:20:50 AM
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Jasper the Second is, of course, entirely right. None of the party leaders seem to have done themselves very much of a service over the past week. The decision on who will form the new government has been made and it's now up to the politicians to get on with it.

It's about time these guys stopped trying to score political points off one another and got on with the job of moving Tasmania forward. If that means cooperating with each other, as opposed to reverting to adverserial party politics, then that's what they all need to start doing. Nick McKim, on face value at least, seems to be advocating this although whether or not this is what the Greens, or either of the other political parties for that matter, will actually do in the interests of all Tasmanians, as opposed to pandering the internal interests of their party members as they have always tended to do in the past, is yet to be tested. The opportunity exists to change the culture of government i Tasmania; all Tasmanians must be living in hope that this will happen; if not one thing is certain - it will be very bad news for Tasmania.
Posted by balanced, Friday, 9 April 2010 12:12:36 PM
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Couldn't resist it, CJ.

>>As it stands, it looks like it will be quite some time before Labor governs again in Tasmania, if ever.<<

That's one of the perils of making predictions. Especially when they involve the future...

Looks like it may get exciting pretty quickly, though.

"In their lust for power, [the Greens have] sold out to the Labor party, soundly beaten at the election and have offered unconditional support – so when I said a vote for the Greens is a vote for Labor, I was right. [Mr Bartlett is] forming an illegitimate government with the support of the Greens – Tasmanians now have a Labor-Green government that is built on lies"

Lust... illegitimate government... lies...

Oooo-errr.

Hope we get the same level of excitement and intrigue in NSW.

All we have at the moment is a Labor party that has sold out to anyone with the price of a schooner, and who are running an illegitimate government with the support of a featherweight opposition, and whose entire policies are built on lies...

Plus ça change, eh?
Posted by Pericles, Friday, 9 April 2010 1:26:54 PM
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What a mess.

It's just as well that Tasmania is nothing more than a rather expensive pimple on the but of Oz, or their silly mucking around may have some effect on the rest of us.

Half a mo', the SA lot have made almost as much mess with their election, & we still have NSW, & VIC to go.

That pimple might become a carbuncle if these people don't smarten up, & decide what they really want. These hung parliments are a plan for disaster.
Posted by Hasbeen, Friday, 9 April 2010 2:07:04 PM
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Pericles: << Couldn't resist it, CJ. >>

Er, well... that's what it looked like on Tuesday - 3 days is a long time in politics, eh? :S

It's a shame that McKim blinked, but the political problem in Tasmania certainly isn't the Greens nor the people who vote for them. It seems to be squarely with the Libs and Labor, both of whom refuse to negotiate with the Greens.

The Tasmanian parliament has the opportunity to now form a truly representative government - let's see if they're democratic and adult enough to do so.
Posted by CJ Morgan, Saturday, 10 April 2010 8:19:49 AM
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CJ Morgan

>> The Tasmanian parliament has the opportunity to now form a truly representative government - let's see if they're democratic and adult enough to do so. <<

ROFL

This infantile "I'm not talking to the Greens, so nyah, nyah, nyah" has no indication, thus far, of evolving into anything remotely adult. Like I said at the beginning of this thread, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Victoria goes to the polls later this year. Given the dollars plunged into a desal plant at the expense of collecting and managing that which falls freely from the skies, the pipeline to pander to Melbourne at the expense of regional folk (can anyone see the Libs retracting these 'projects'?), if I didn't live here already I'd be buying front row seats just to watch. As it is I am afraid, very afraid.
Posted by Severin, Saturday, 10 April 2010 9:28:44 AM
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Labor as again outsmarted the Liberals. They know full well that the Liberals will never get on with the Greens despite what we may read in the paper.Back to the polls in the next 12 months with a similar result or a Labor/Greens coalilation . There is no hope for this State.
Posted by Rufflun, Monday, 12 April 2010 11:59:56 AM
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Posted by balanced, Friday, 9 April 201 "best thing the Liberals in Tasmania can now do is sit back and watch Labor and the Greens dig holes for themselves then gently push them as the opportunity arises. It's pretty much inevitable this will happen over time, once again no matter what sort of spin Bartlett and/or McKim try to put on it"

With all due respect balanced, how many years in opposition do the Liberals need? They've had twelve years to sort out their house and guess what...they still aren't capable. Cheers
Posted by Scarneck, Monday, 12 April 2010 7:32:49 PM
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