Anthony Albanese strikes at ‘dysfunctional’ Tasmanian government during election bid ahead of state vote on March 23

The Prime Minister took aim at one Australian state’s lengthy track record of leaders dropping like flies.

Anthony Albanese has taken a dig at the Tasmanian Liberal Party’s “dysfunctional” leadership track history after spruiking his Labor candidate ahead of the state’s election.

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff called an early vote for March 23 in January after his government was plunged into a minority following the resignation of two of his MPs last year.

With less than two weeks until polling day, the Prime Minister struck a jab at the Rockliff government’s “dysfunctional” third term during the launch of Tasmania Labor’s election campaign.

“The reason why this third election in just six years is being held is because they couldn’t govern themselves,” Mr Albanese said on Monday.

“People voted for Premier Hodgman and they got Premier Gutwein. They voted for Premier Gutwein and they got Premier Rockliff,” he said

“If they vote for Premier Rockliff, will they get Michael Ferguson? Or there is worse, will they get Eric Abetz?

“The sequel no one wanted heading to a state parliament near you.”

Former Liberal senator and parliamentary veteran Eric Abetz will run in the electorate of Franklin in Tasmania’s state election. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Peter Gutwein stepped in as Tasmania’s premier after long-time leader Will Hodgman resigned just before the pandemic in January 2020. Mr Gutwein then resigned, citing exhaustion from leading during Covid-19, with his deputy Jeremy Rockliff taking over in April 2022.

Tasmania, which has the country’s only state Liberal government, has since been rocked by a string of resignations in its government, with the most recent being former attorney-general Elise Archer, who quit in September over bullying allegations.

Mr Albanese said after months of “chaos” and “confusion” Tasmanians deserved political stability. He pointed to Labor candidate Rebecca White, who has pledged to focus on providing assistance for renters struggling with cost of living.

“A dysfunctional Liberal government that is going through this campaign pretending to discover problems that it has spent 10 years creating,” he said.

“The truth is, if Tasmanians want to change the government, there is only one way to do it and that is by voting Labor.”

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff called the state’s election one year ahead of schedule. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Nikki Davis-Jones

As part of his own election campaign, Mr Rockliff vowed to build the world’s largest chocolate fountain next to the Cadbury factory north of Hobart if his government were to be re-elected in March.

“Two hundred million chocolate bars are produced right here at Cadbury’s at Claremont employing some 450 Tasmanians. We want to build on that, add value,” Mr Rockliff said on Sunday.

The state’s tourism minister Simon Currant said all up the chocolate revamp project would cost taxpayers $100m.

The Liberals also announced they’d lead a crackdown on crime rates after state police recorded an uptick in the number of youth offenders across the state.

Originally published as Anthony Albanese strikes at ‘dysfunctional’ Tasmanian government during election bid ahead of state vote on March 23