‘Confected’ Tas election excuse exposed, Premier attacks media

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein’s justification for an early election has been described as a sham.

Madeleine Ogilvie is running as a Liberal in her seat of Clark. Picture: Rob Burnett

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein’s justification for an early election — the loss of majority government — has been described as a sham, after an independent MP joined the Liberals.

In announcing the snap poll on Friday, Mr Gutwein insisted it was necessary because the Liberals had slipped into minority government with the resignation from the party of speaker Sue Hickey.

However, on Sunday Ms Hickey’s fellow independent, Madeleine Ogilvie, announced she had joined the Liberals and was now running as a Liberal in her seat of Clark.

Had she joined the party before Friday, the government would have had its one-seat majority restored and Mr Gutwein would have lacked his justification for calling an election 10 months early.

Labor leader Rebecca White said Ms Ogilvie’s candidacy for the Liberals showed Mr Gutwein had “confected” a sham excuse for calling an early election.

“He just could have reached across the aisles to Madeleine Ogilvie a week ago and had the majority on the floor of parliament that he said he needed,” Ms White said

Mr Gutwein turned on the news media on Sunday, after repeatedly failing to directly respond to questions about whether his case for an early poll had been undermined by Ms Ogilvie’s recruitment.

Premier Peter Gutwein introduces candidates at Campbell Town in Tasmania. Picture: Rob Burnett

“It’s a statement of fact: last week we went into minority government,” he said. “It appears to me that the media doesn’t believe in democracy.”

He would not say when it was decided Ms Ogilvie, originally a Labor MP who left the ALP after clashing with its dominant left faction, would join the Liberals. “Madeleine Ogilvie joined the Liberal Party yesterday,” he said.

The Australian has revealed discussions about Ms Ogilvie joining the Liberals were occurring as far back as late 2020.

Ms Ogilvie, a Catholic lawyer, was coy about when she was approached to join the Liberals, suggesting only that it occurred after Ms Hickey on Monday announced she was leaving the party.

“We’ve had a range of conversations over a long period of time about how things might play out,” Ms Ogilvie said. “I wasn’t asked to put my application forward to be an endorsed (Liberal) candidate until after Sue (Hickey) did her thing.”

The Liberals announced their candidates in full on Sunday, gaining further advantage over Labor, which has yet to do so and is divided over whether to endorse Kingborough mayor Dean Winter for the key seat of Franklin.

Mr Winter, a party centrist, is hated by members of the ALP’s dominant left faction in Tasmania, who are determined to block his preselection.

This is despite Mr Winter being a likely major vote winner in Franklin, privately supported by Ms White and publicly backed former premier Paul Lennon.

Sources told The Australian the left faction persuaded a would-be candidate for neighbouring electorate of Clark, lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi, to switch to Franklin, to justify blocking Mr Winter’s candidacy.

The Liberals have endorsed some likely big vote winners, including Huon Mayor Bec Enders, running in Franklin, and former minister Adam Brooks, who will seek a return in Braddon despite leaving parliament in 2019 after a conflict of interest controversy.

Ms White said Labor had called for nominations and would announce its candidates in “coming days”.