Tasmanian election 2025: Jeremy Rockliff and Dean Winter front up for Sky News debate

The two men battling for control over Tasmania have taken the gloves off immediately in a furious Sky News election debate.

Tasmania’s only election debate has descended into a furious gloves-off battle between Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff and his Labor challenger Dean Winter, with both men accusing each other of recklessness, incompetence and dishonesty.

The election, triggered by a no-confidence vote, comes only a year after the previous March 2024 election, with voters heading to the polls on Saturday.

Mr Rockliff said Mr Winter had forced the election through a “rush of blood” and Tasmanians were “sick and tired” of the state’s rolling political shenanigans.

“You’re all over the place,” Mr Rockliff said to Mr Dean, standing directly in front of him on the Sky News debate stage.

“A selfish grab for power, Dean Winters, united with the Greens, forced an election.”

Mr Winters, meanwhile, slammed Mr Rockliff’s “reckless behaviour” and said he was dragging the state into bankruptcy.

“We don’t want a premier who is going to recklessly bankrupt Tasmania,” he said.

Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff has led Tasmania since 2022. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Labor leader Dean Winter is running for the top job in Tasmania. Picture: NewsWire/ Simon Sturzaker

“He has the gall to stand here today and say he has a path to surplus.”

Mr Winters also said Mr Rockliff was “gaslighting” Tasmanians over the Spirit of Tasmania infrastructure project, which is behind schedule and has been plagued with dramatic failures in delivery.

Both men interrupted each other as they offered their responses to the questions from Sky News moderator Kieran Gilbert, questions from the voters and questions from one another.

Both men’s faces also appeared edged with contempt as they stood before each other and hammered into their records and proposals for the state.

The parties are battling for 35 seats in the state’s parliament, with 18 seats needed for majority government.

Here were the main themes and battlelines of the debate.

Macquarie Point Stadium

The proposed concept design for the 23,000 seat Macquarie Point Stadium. Picture: MPDC

In a rare show of bipartisanship, both men committed without reservations to backing the controversial $975m stadium in Hobart’s city centre.

The AFL has declared a new stadium in the Hobart CBD as non-negotiable condition for a new Tasmania Devils team and both leaders said they would vote for and build the stadium if they won the election.

The cost of the stadium and concerns about its impact on the city centre has ignited opposition in some quarters, but Wednesday’s debate demonstrated the major parties are in lock-step on the issue.

“We are not sacrificing the Tasmanian Devils,” Mr Winter said.

“We’re not reneging on that, under any circumstances.”

Mr Rockliff said the stadium would transform a “wasteland” portion of Hobart into something “iconic” for Tasmania.

“We’ve got to stay the course,” he said.

Health

Mr Winter has promised to build 10 government-funded GP clinics. Picture: NewsWire / Richard Jupe

Mr Winter pledged to build 10 “TassieDoc” clinics, or government-funded GP practices, in the next two years if he wins Saturday’s election.

“If I don’t deliver those … I will resign as premier of the state,” he said.

In a surprise moment, Mr Rockliff revealed he also backed building five TassieDoc clinics.

Mr Winter said Mr Rockliff was like former federal opposition leader Peter Dutton on health.

“It felt just like Peter Dutton, pretending he cares about healthcare,” he said.

“There is only one party that can be trusted on this, and that is the Labor Party.”

Housing

The leaders went to battle over housing.

Mr Rockliff pledged 10,000 homes by 2032 and spruiked his government’s commitment to end stamp duty and its $30,000 grants to support new houses.

He said home ownership was a core part of the “great Australian dream” and he wanted that for all Tasmanians.

Mr Winter emphasised planning reform and said it was “harder than ever” to build homes in the state.

He promised a “massive shake-up” to planning regulations to streamline construction and deliver more houses.

Logging

Both leaders reiterated their support for the state’s important forestry industry under a question from a voter, who decried all the logging trucks on the road.

“Let’s preserve Tasmania,” the voter said.

Mr Winter said the state needed to communicate more effectively about what native forestry was and why it is a “good thing” for the state.

“Tasmania produces some incredible timber products,” he said.

He said Victoria had banned logging and now needed to import products from the US, which he said did not “make sense”.

Mr Rockliff said the logging industry was “absolutely needed”.

Hung parliament

Mr Rockliff has led Tasmania since 2022. Picture: NewsWire/ Nikki Davis-Jones

Polls show neither parties securing majority government.

Mr Rockliff warned repeatedly of a Labor-Greens alliance or partnership, which he said posed a threat to jobs and the state’s economy.

Mr Winter ruled out any formal deal with the Greens, but refused to rule out accepting confidence and supply from the Greens.

“I will work with the parliament Tasmanians give me, out of respect,” he said.

Closing statements

In his closing pitch, Mr Rockliff said a re-elected Liberal government would deliver “stability and certainty”.

“We cannot afford the uncertainty of Labor, Greens and single-issue radical independents, controlling and forcing Tasmanians to election time-after-time.”

Mr Winter said it was time for a “fresh start” and warned of the state’s $13bn debt load.

“It is frightening what they are doing to our state,” he said.

“He won’t even admit there’s a problem.”

Originally published as Tasmanian election 2025: Jeremy Rockliff and Dean Winter front up for Sky News debate