Ruth Forrest believes Labor should have tested support on the floor

The Premier’s decision to send Tasmanians to the polls instead of resigning has been compared to “Trump-like behaviour” by a respected MP. Here’s why she says ‘egos must be put aside’.

Ruth Forrest Independent member for Murchison on Tasmania’s snap election. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

One of Tasmania’s most respected members of the upper house has likened Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s decision not to resign and “to push on regardless of the view of a majority” as “bordering on Trump-like behaviour”.

Ruth Forrest, the deputy president of the Legislative Council and chair of the powerful Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee said it was “unacceptable” that Mr Rockliff did not resign after the no-confidence motion passed in him.

“I find it unacceptable to have a Premier who has been unwilling to accept the will of the house of parliament and force us back to the polls, blaming everyone else but themselves,” she wrote in a social media post.

“What we can’t afford is any political party or candidate who will not acknowledge and accept the reality of the budget situation we face and does not campaign on a platform of addressing this crisis and/or not pork barrels to win votes further trashing the financial position of Tasmania.

“We need a clearly articulated medium and long-term plan to recovery.

“Egos must be put aside — ‘good blokes’ respect umpire’s decisions and focus on meaningful outcomes ... anything else is bordering on Trump-like behaviour.”

Ruth Forrest member for Murchison in the Legislative Council. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Ms Forrest told the Mercury she was surprised Labor leader Dean Winter did not test support on the floor and “just say ‘we’re here, who’s going to give us confidence and supply?’”.

“I was really frustrated when I wrote it (the post), because essentially, we’re back at the polls, everything stops.

“All the parliamentary committee work stops and there’s really big, important financial decisions around TT Line, around Marinus Link and there’s also the stadium question.

“All of these things could potentially be decided during caretaker and that’s disgraceful.”

Ms Forrest said when a decision goes against you, “you have to suck it up”.

“I think he should have (resigned) because that’s the Westminster convention, like Michael Ferguson resigned after the TT-Line, and Jeremy mentioned this in his speech after he lost the vote,” she said.

“He stood down, Mr Ferguson paid the price. Well, this is another example, but Mr Rockliff refused to do it.”

Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Ms Forrest said it was disappointing that Mr Rockliff signed the AFL deal on the stadium “in the manner he did”.

“He did it without getting any Treasury advice, and without going to Cabinet, and that’s an extraordinary breach of trust,” she said.

“It is one of the recommendations of the AFL Task Force, but you’ve got to read the report in its entirety and a roofed is a long-term aspiration.

“But that has been lost in this push of ‘we will just do it our way’.”

Mr Rockliff has repeatedly shut down calls that he should have resigned and placed blame for the early election on Mr Winter.

“Before visiting the Governor, I convened a meeting of the Parliamentary Liberal Party where I, once again, received unanimous support to continue to lead the Liberal Party,” the Premier said last week.

“Another election is not what I wanted, and I know that it’s not what Tasmanians wanted.

“But it was forced upon us by the Leader of the Opposition.”

Originally published as Ruth Forrest believes Labor should have tested support on the floor