December 7, 2023
Senator Jacqui Lambie was the first of the new crossbench members to ask a question during Senate Question Time today.
Lambie, a Palmer United Party senator from Tasmania, asked the Leader of the Government, Senator Eric Abetz about jobs and the Tasmanian economy. She said she wanted to see $5 billion made available to Tasmania over 4 years and called for a “special economic zone” to be established.
The Liberal Party will form a new government in Tasmania, following today’s election which crushed the ALP and punished the Greens.
Will Hodgman will become the first Liberal Premier of Tasmania since 1998, bringing to an end 16 years of Labor government. For the last four years, the ALP has governed in coalition with the Greens, first under Premier David Bartlett and then Lara Giddings.
The Liberal Party appears on track to win three seats each in Braddon, Bass, Lyons and Franklin and two seats in Denison, giving it 14 seats in the 25-seat House of Assembly.
Tasmania’s Labor Premier, Lara Giddings, and the Liberal Opposition Leader, Will Hodgman, have met in a televised forum, just nine days before the state election.
The forum was telecast on Sky News and moderated by Kieran Gilbert.
The two leaders took questions from an audience of purported swinging voters chosen by a polling company.
The Labor Premier of Tasmania, Lara Giddings, has launched the ALP’s campaign for the state election on March 15.
Giddings was introduced by the Deputy Premier, Bryan Green, and the federal Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten.
She promised to replace the Schoolkids bonus abolished by the Abbott government with a state scheme worth $14 million.
Will Hodgman, the Tasmanian Leader of the Opposition, has released a plan for the first one hundred days of government if the Liberal Party wins the March 15 election.
The First 100 Days Plan is shown below.
Statement from Will Hodgman, Leader of the Opposition, Tasmanian Liberal Party leader.
Liberals are ready to govern
Today I released our First 100 Days Implementation Plan, should we be elected to govern on March 15.
This election is the most important election in a generation.
Tasmanians have a clear choice at this election: a choice to change the direction our State is heading in, a choice for a brighter future – or more of the same.
We can’t fix the challenges our State faces overnight, which is why we have released a comprehensive Plan for Tasmania’s future.