Tasmania’s premier has vowed to seek a fresh election if he loses a no-confidence motion on Thursday, as the island state’s political chaos leaves the future of the AFL’s newest club in peril.
Jeremy Rockliff was the subject of a gruelling no-confidence debate on Wednesday, tabled by Labor Opposition Leader Dean Winter on Tuesday, which is continuing into Thursday morning.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff outside state parliament on Thursday morning. Credit: AAPIMAGE
Convention dictates Rockliff resign and a new premier be chosen if the motion passes.
But before parliament began on Thursday, he reiterated his vow to fight until his last breath.
“I cannot let Mr Winter’s selfish grab for power destroy what we have built over the course of the last decade,” Rockliff told reporters.
“The only job Mr Winter is interested in is mine, and I am not going anywhere. Today if Mr Winter’s divisive and destructive motion is passed, I will be going to the lieutenant-governor and seeking an election.”
“This will be an election that Tasmanians don’t want, and Tasmanians cannot afford – be that on Mr Winter’s head.”
Tasmania went to the polls in March 2024, when the Liberals won just 14 of 35 seats but earned enough support from the crossbench to form government.
Tasmania Devils CEO Brendon Gale told radio station 3AW on Thursday that he was not sure whether the AFL would proceed with the deal to grant the team a playing licence if Tasmania went to a state election.
“It’s above my pay grade,” he said.
“Our responsibility is to build a club, and our club’s existence is contingent upon the stadium. There are some obligations around time, and delivery of infrastructure, and those timelines would be put at risk. So if they were to go to an election, there would be some nervousness at the AFL.”
But Gale also said the team could proceed without the controversial Macquarie Point roofed stadium as Hobart and Launceston have venues that have long hosted AFL matches. The stadium is a condition of the Devils’ entry into the AFL competition.
“There is existing infrastructure, and it’s sound, but it’s not good enough to meet the commercial requirements of an AFL team on an ongoing basis,” he said.
“But there is tolerance, I guess, within those agreements for the Devils to play at those stadiums, providing there is commitment to the Macquarie Point stadium.”
The estimated cost for a new stadium recently increased from $755 million to $945 million. The government has previously pledged to cap its contribution to the stadium at $375 million.
Rockliff has been under increasing political pressure over worsening budget debt, Bass Strait ferry delays, a plan to sell assets and the new stadium.
Winter wrote a letter to the AFL on Wednesday, saying the government had lost the confidence of the chamber, and that Labor supported the project “unconditionally”. The Greens and several crossbench MPs are opposed.
More to come
With Cassandra Morgan and AAP
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