Lambie Network MP Andrew Jenner: I won’t sign new confidence, supply deal
The sole remaining state member of the Jacqui Lambie Network has threatened to cause trouble for the Tasmanian government, making a surprise announcement that could prove problematic for the Liberals.
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Lyons Jacqui Lambie Network MP Andrew Jenner has announced he will not be signing a new confidence and supply deal with the state government in a move that threatens to further weaken the Liberals’ position in the lower house.
Mr Jenner is the sole Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) MP remaining in the parliament after Miriam Beswick and Rebekah Pentland were exiled from the party.
He said he wouldn’t be formally entering into a new deal because Premier Jeremy Rockliff refused to support Labor’s plan to end the practice of pork barrelling during election campaigns.
However, he added that a verbal confidence and supply agreement between himself and the Premier remained intact for the time being.
“This is a very serious issue, and I am not prepared to sign any agreement which allows what the Integrity Commission has labelled ‘indirect electoral bribery’ to continue,” Mr Jenner said.
The Lyons MP has warned that he may not back the state budget when it comes to a vote in the parliament because he says it contains cuts to essential services.
Mr Jenner has an existing agreement with the government, while Mrs Beswick and Mrs Pentland have signed a new deal since becoming independents.
The Liberals have 14 members in the House of Assembly but need 18 votes to pass laws and carry motions.
In addition to their deal with Mrs Beswick and Mrs Pentland, the government has confidence and supply agreements with independents David O’Byrne and Kristie Johnston.
Without Mr Jenner’s support, it would become even more crucial for the Liberals to keep Mr O’Byrne, Ms Johnston, and the two former JLN members onside and would potentially improve the crossbenchers’ bargaining power.
Mr Rockliff said Mr Jenner had given him a verbal commitment on confidence and supply and he would “leave Andrew’s opinion up to Andrew”.
“This budget is a strong budget, a budget for the times, a budget that has a pathway to surplus, a budget that can also invest in key priority areas such as cost of living, health and housing,” he said.
The Premier restated his opposition to Labor leader Dean Winter’s proposal to ban pork barrelling, saying he would “not be handing over my responsibilities as a local MP to [an] unelected committee to make decisions on behalf of the community”.
He has also accused Mr Winter of hypocrisy, pointing out that Labor outspent the Liberals in terms of election promises in this year’s campaign and had itself engaged in pork barrelling.
Speaking on ABC Radio on Monday, Mr Winter indicated that he could be willing to bring forward legislation in this term of parliament to establish an independent assessment process for government grants in an effort to stamp out pork barrelling.
Clark Labor MP Ella Haddad said it spoke “volumes” that Mr Rockliff was “clinging onto pork barrelling so desperately that he refuses to come to the table and work with the Labor Party to actually stamp [it] out”.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff welcomed Labor’s plan and urged the Opposition to bring it on for debate “as quickly as possible”.
“It’s so important that we don’t go to another election where pork barrelling happens again,” she said.
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Originally published as Lambie Network MP Andrew Jenner: I won’t sign new confidence, supply deal
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