Latest news with #TasmaniaElection
ABC News
a day ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Macquarie Point AFL stadium issue a vote changer, YouSay polling reveals ahead of Tasmanian state election
For Tasmanians, the proposed Macquarie Point stadium is likely to play at least some role in who they vote for at the upcoming state election. According to ABC YourSay data, the stadium remains the hot-button issue. And of more than 1,000 respondents across the first two weeks of the campaign, the vast majority referenced the stadium as a key issue — or at least something they are thinking about ahead of polling day. So, what are Tasmanians telling the ABC when it comes to the stadium? And could the stadium act as a vote changer for Tasmanians? First-time state Greens candidate Vanessa Bleyer, who is running in the north-west seat of Braddon, believes so. "Nine out of ten people in Braddon are raising the stadium to me very quickly as a core issue to them in their state election," she said. "At least half of the people I've spoken to who are opposed to funding a billion-dollar stadium in Hobart are changing their vote to oppose that funding." Ms Bleyer's experience has been reflected in a number of YourSay responses. Leanne in Devonport said she could flip her vote. Beatrice in Shearwater voted Labor at the May federal election, but could also swing to the Greens because of the stadium. "I would like to vote Labor as I'm pleased with federal Labor, but I can't if they're going ahead with the stadium. So, it's the Greens for me this time," she said. Ms Bleyer said she'd spoken to both Labor and Liberal voters who planned on changing their vote to oppose the stadium. Independent candidate Craig Garland, who is seeking re-election in Braddon, said he was being delivered a clear message by his constituents. "The amount of people emailing and stopping me in the street and telling me 'if you support the stadium, you haven't got my vote', it's quite clear it's the number one issue for them," he said. Among those in attendance at north-west football grounds, opinions were split. "I don't think it should be a cut-throat deal, no stadium no team," Melissa Bishop said, referring to the AFL's stipulation that without the roofed stadium at Macquarie Point, Tasmania does not get to enter a team into the national competition. But she said it wouldn't influence her vote. "It's definitely not at the top of my priorities," she said. "It'd be better off in Launceston. It'd be fairer for the rest of the state," Doug Rowlings from Devonport told the ABC. "People in Smithton aren't going to travel all the way to Hobart for a game of football, then travel home," he said. While not eligible to vote, Circular Head junior footballer Harvey Vanderlaan, aged 13, said he would like to see the stadium. Liberal candidate for Bass Rob Fairs, whose electorate takes in the northern city of Launceston, said the Devils AFL team was coming up regularly while he was doorknocking. "While people are taking the opportunity to hear about the benefits a stadium will bring them in the north, they know what's at stake and they are telling me they'll vote to save the dream," he said. Hamish in West Launceston told YourSay it was "critical" that a Jeremy Rockliff-led Liberal government was re-elected so that the stadium could be built. While David in Whitemark on Flinders Island said his vote would change. "At the next election, I will be voting for the Liberal party for the first time ever," he told YourSay. Lesley in Newstead, also in Bass, said they would be voting informally because of the stadium. "I cannot place a valid vote. Independent candidate for the southern seat of Franklin, David O'Byrne, who is also the president of the Southern Football League, believed the stadium would be a vote changer, but mostly for people who supported the proposal. "The people who are against the stadium are predominantly staying where they are, in my view," he said. He also said he believed it would mobilise the southern football community, given the timing of the election. "The election is in the middle of football season, and the biggest issue for a lot of sporting communities is the Devils and the stadium and what that brings. It's clear that without the stadium, you can't deliver a team and football clubs know that," he said. A number of Franklin voters said the stadium issue would force their vote to change. "I have voted Labor for almost 50 years but will not be voting for the Labor party this election," Chris in Howrah told YourSay. While Bernard, also of Howrah, could also swing towards the pro-stadium Liberals. "It's vitally important that the stadium goes ahead to the extent that I'm considering voting Liberal for the first time in my life," he said. A swing away from the Labor party, based on their pro-stadium stance, was a theme amongst YourSay respondents. Labor candidate for Clark Luke Martin, who has been doorknocking Hobart's northern suburbs, said the stadium was not a prominent issue among his potential constituents. "While a few people have raised the stadium, with a range of views, it's clear that most are focused on issues that affect their day-to-day lives, like health, housing, the cost of living and growing concerns about crime in Glenorchy." Older Tasmanians have so far been far more likely to respond to the survey, with about three-quarters of respondents between the ages of 60 and 69 years old. The stadium was a strong theme amongst this cohort, with 66 per cent of them specifically referencing the stadium as a key election issue. Of the 22 respondents who gave their age as being between 15 and 29, the stadium rated as only a lukewarm topic. Lachlan of Moonah wanted less focus on the stadium and more focus on "the Liberal government's lack of financial responsibility". James of New Norfolk said the state election wasn't a "stadium referendum" and health and housing should be the main focus for voters. Art student Dan did not want to see the stadium built, while other young people were more concerned about the closure of Ashley detention centre, public transport and a greater focus on LGBTIQ+ issues.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Can I vote early in the Tasmanian state election? When does pre-polling start?
Tasmania's state election will be held on Saturday 19 July and early voting is now open. Here is some information about getting your vote in ahead of polling day. You bet! If you expect to be unable to vote in person on polling day, then you're able to cast your vote early. Pre-poll voting centres will be available across the state from Monday 30 June. The Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) has provided a list of early voting locations here. There are seven early voting locations statewide that are now open, with a further eight to open on 14 July. They'll be open from 8.30am until 5.30pm weekdays and until 6pm on Friday 18 July. A quiet voting hour for voters with sensory needs is available at all pre-poll locations from 10 am to 11 am daily. There are a few different ways to vote early: Pre-poll voting centres will be open at various locations across the state from Monday. Once you arrive at a pre-poll centre, you must declare you are unable to attend a polling place on polling day before you can cast your vote. If you aren't able to vote in person on July 19, you can apply to vote by post. You need to apply through the TEC by completing and returning an application form. Postal ballot packs will be sent out from Monday June 30. Applications close at 4pm on Friday July 11. You can also vote early by telephone. The TEC recommends this as the easiest option if you expect to be interstate or overseas on polling day. It is also a convenient option for voters with a print disability, which the TEC defines as: Telephone voting will be available from 11am on Monday 7 July. More information about telephone voting will become available during the week. TEC mobile voting teams will be set up at nursing homes and hospitals around the state. Further details, including a list of locations, will be published in the week commencing Monday, June 30. And for voters with low-vision or visual disabilities, special terminals are available in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie, with more to be made available on election day. They will be open from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm weekdays and until 6 pm on Friday 18 July, and locations can be found here. The TEC has you covered. Just enter your address at this link here to find out which division you live in. Voting is compulsory in Tasmania. Tasmania uses a different system from the rest of the country, called Hare-Clark. You need to number seven boxes on your ballot paper, otherwise your vote won't count! At last year's election, Tasmania became the country's leader in votes that don't count — meaning a lot of voters either deliberately or accidentally didn't comply with the rules. There are instructions for how to vote on your ballot paper and you can also ask polling booth staff for help. No, sorry. We are not there yet.
ABC News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Tasmanians head to another state election
Campaigning has begun in Tasmania, where voters will head to their fourth state election in seven years. The July 19 poll will come after weeks of political chaos in the island state. Ellen Coulter reports.
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
In Tasmania, neither the Liberals nor Labor seem to comprehend the reality of minority government
Tasmania is off to its fourth election in seven years. For the second time in less than two years the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, has called an early poll after his breakdown in relations with the independents who supported his minority government. In early 2024 he called for an election a year before it was due after two ex-Liberal party independents, John Tucker and Lara Alexander, refused his draconian terms of not voting on Labor or Green bills, motions or amendments without discussing them with the government. The premier saw parliament as unworkable if they challenged government policy. But they would not agree to be silenced, for example, about the lack of transparency surrounding the AFL stadium proposed for Hobart's waterfront. The 2024 election did not return the Liberals to majority government. It delivered them 14 seats in an expanded parliament of 35 members of the House of Assembly. Labor won 10 seats, the Greens five, the Jacqui Lambie Network three and three independents were elected. The Liberals claimed victory. Labor refused suggestions that it could form a minority or coalition government with the Greens, and potentially with independents. On election night the party's then leader, Rebecca White, seemed interested but that faded in the light of day. Labor had governed in majority from 1998 until 2010, when it formed a quasi-coalition with the Greens, who sat within cabinet as ministers but with the ability to oppose government policy and legislation. This arrangement provided stable government for four years, with the Greens ministers Nick McKim and Cassie O'Connor well regarded as hard-working and effective. But Labor still blamed the Greens for its 2014 loss of government after 16 long years in power. The Liberals have governed since 2014, in majority until 2018. Their majority was regained in 2021 but subsequently lost. Their vote has gradually eroded to its low point today. Labor's vote has been stuck in the doldrums post-2014, with White taking the party to three consecutive election losses and blaming the Greens for destroying the party – rather than Labor's failure to differentiate itself from the Liberals. Polling in Tasmania mirrors this year's federal election result. The Liberal and Labor votes are hovering around 30%, eclipsed by the combined Greens, Lambie Network and independents at about 40%. If accurate this will surely deliver another minority government. But those results still might deliver more seats to the Liberals than Labor, despite parliament's no-confidence motion in Rockliff, his refusal to step down, and the fact that his government has become embattled, tired and ineffective. Labor's leader, Dean Winter, brought the no-confidence motion, setting in train the events that have led to the early election. This will win his party no fans. Labor has also backed the Liberals on the stadium proposal, now opposed by 59% of Tasmanians. The Greens stepped up and offered to work with Labor so an election could be avoided. But Winter travelled to Government House to assure the governor, Barbara Baker, that he and his party would not countenance working with the Greens. He will be hoping that Tasmanian voters cannot discern between state and federal politics, that they equate Tasmanian Labor with all its woes with the Albanese government, and that the 9% swing to Labor at the federal election is replicated. A millstone for the major parties is Tasmania's debt crisis, with net debt forecast to reach $10.9bn by 2029. Neither party has offered credible remedies and both will surely be constrained for once from electoral pork-barrelling. So the crossbench is likely to expand at the 2025 poll and, with it, the available talent for supporting minority government and playing a role in a quasi-coalition government. Indeed the Greens and the crossbench have the numbers to form their own minority government. But neither the Liberals nor Labor seem to comprehend the reality of minority government. Neither party seems to have learned from previous experiences of it. And neither has grasped that a Labor-Greens quasi-coalition offers a solid and workable arrangement. In Tasmania, the major parties simply have to come to terms with the fact that the days of majority government are done and will be until they significantly rebuild faith with the electorate. Until then, they need to deal cooperatively with the Greens and the crossbench. Kate Crowley, an adjunct associate professor at the University of Tasmania, is an expert on minority government and the editor of Minority Government: The Liberal-Green Experience in Tasmania
ABC News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Stadium, ships and stability — parties make first pitch in Tasmanian election nobody wanted
Following a week of political mudslinging, Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Labor leader Dean Winter say they will attempt to project a "positive" image for the state in the freshly-started election campaign. On the first day of the campaign yesterday, both major parties started making pitches to voters ahead of the July 19 election. Mr Rockliff appeared on Thursday alongside his Bass candidates at Legana, an outer suburb of Launceston. The Liberals have only one change to the seven candidates who ran at the last election, with former federal Bass MP Bridget Archer now running. Spending much of last week attacking Mr Winter by calling him a "wrecker", Mr Rockliff started the campaign taking a different tack. "I'll be focusing in a positive frame of mind," he said. Standing next to the new Legana Primary School, Mr Rockliff said the Liberals were also building new roads and updating hospitals. "We will be making new announcements which I'll be working [through] with our candidates and with our community and have a very clear plan for Tasmania." The Liberals are expected to announce former Braddon MP Gavin Pearce and former senator Stephen Parry as candidates for Braddon today. The election followed a successful no-confidence motion in Mr Rockliff, moved by Mr Winter last week. The no-confidence motion focused on the state's budgetary position, potential privatisation of state-owned companies, and the bungled rollout of new Spirit of Tasmania vessels. On the first day of the campaign, Mr Winter honed in on the Spirits saga. "Who could possibly believe that you could have a premier of this state who was buying a billion dollars' worth of new ships, and then forgot to build a berth for them to actually operate from? "It's something from a comedy act." Mr Rockliff said the government had been accountable — the Spirits' rollout led to former infrastructure minister Michael Ferguson resigning from the cabinet. Labor went to the last election under previous leader Rebecca White, who has since won the federal seat of Lyons. It means the party is expected to have a range of new policies under Mr Winter, which he had originally intended to release in the second half of the year. Mr Winter said he wanted Tasmania to be "a place where things actually get done". "I want rents to stop going up by so much. "I want this to be a place where hospitals are actually accessible, where you can go to school and get an education in Tasmania that's just as good as the mainland." The Tasmanian Greens appeared outside the historic Goods Shed at Macquarie Point, which is slated to be relocated as part of plans for a proposed stadium. The Greens oppose any new stadium in Hobart, contrary to the positions of the Liberals and Labor. Polling in February by EMRS — which is owned by Font PR, a firm with Liberal links — showed 59 per cent oppose the stadium while 36 per cent support it. Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said the election was an opportunity for those opposed to the stadium to make their voices heard. "Whether it's a referendum or not, we know people in their droves will be voting against any party or individual who supports that stadium," she said. "Both Jeremy Rockliff's Liberals and Dean Winter's Labor have shown they are incapable of shifting their views despite poll after poll after poll showing Tasmanians hate a stadium. "What will it take? What it will take — we've found now — is an election."
