Tasmania state election: Michael Ferguson says no early election

Tasmania’s deputy premier has hosed down talks of an early election, saying there ‘will absolutely be a return to parliament in spring’. LATEST >>

There will not be an early state election, Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson says.

The Liberals were determined to serve out their full term and claims to the contrary were uninformed speculation, Mr Ferguson told reporters on Thursday.

“There will not be an election,” he said.

“The only people talking about elections are politicians and journalists.

“Tasmanians don’t want to have another election. The business community don’t want to have another election.

“Tasmanians voted only two years ago, they voted for Liberal government.”

Speculation of the possibility of an early election has been fuelled by the Liberal minority government’s struggle to win votes in the House of Assembly following the defection of two members.

Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

But Mr Ferguson said Tasmanians wanted the government to stick to its plan.

“They expect us to deliver that plan and they expect all politicians not just Liberals, all politicians to do their part to play a positive role for stability and for the government to get on with this plan.

“The government’s position is very clear. We are absolutely committed to seeing this term being a success for Tasmania and delivering on our plan.

“There will absolutely be a return to Parliament in spring and [Labor leader] Rebecca White will eat her words.”

TCCI CEO Michael Bailey urged MPs to stop the speculation and get on with the job.

“The government has made it clear that they will not call an early election,” Mr Bailey said.

“The only thing that speculation and gossip is going to do is create uncertainty. Uncertainty damages business confidence and that affects the entire community, because businesses become more reluctant to invest or employ more people.

“It’s an economic own goal and we can’t let that happen. We already have enough challenges to deal with without making up new ones.

“What we do want to see though is a battle of ideas for how our elected representatives will help the community deal with the challenges headed our way.

“It’s been refreshing to see strong debate on issues like power prices and we need to focus on those sorts of discussions rather than creating fodder for political doom-scrolling about early elections.”

Originally published as Tasmania state election: Michael Ferguson says no early election