Guy Barnett becomes Tasmanian deputy premier as Michael Ferguson exiled to backbench
A social conservative has been elected as deputy to Tasmania’s ‘rainbow premier’, as the ferries fiasco continues despite Michael Ferguson’s exile to the backbench.
Tasmania’s embattled Liberals have turned to an old hand – long-time minister and former senator Guy Barnett – to replace Michael Ferguson as deputy leader and Deputy Premier.
Mr Barnett, a state minister for a decade, is also among potential candidates to take Mr Ferguson’s former role as treasurer, in a reshuffle this week.
Elevation of the 62-year-old by the partyroom on Tuesday followed the previous evening’s dramatic resignation by Mr Ferguson after it became clear he would lose a no-confidence motion.
“It’s a great honour to have been elected unopposed by my parliamentary Liberal Party colleagues as deputy leader, and (to be) sworn in as Deputy Premier,” Mr Barnett said.
“Having joined the Liberal Party in 1980, I have a deep love for the values of our great party and will continue to strive each day to honour what the Liberal Party stands for.”
Mr Barnett was a senator in 2002-10, and elected to the state House of Assembly in 2014 for the largely rural seat of Lyons.
He is generally seen as a social conservative whose views on same-sex marriage and school diversity programs have attracted the ire of progressives, in contrast to Premier Jeremy Rockliff, an avowed moderate known to occasionally sport a rainbow puffer jacket. Mr Barnett is the current Health Minister and Attorney-General.
A lawyer, he served briefly as a senior adviser to then-Liberal premier Robin Gray in the late 1980s before heading a public relations and political consultancy for more than a decade.
Along with fellow former senator-turned-state MPEric Abetz, Mr Barnett is thought to be among those being considered as a potential treasurer in the looming reshuffle. However, Mr Rockliff, who has temporarily taken on Mr Ferguson’s former ministerial roles, may opt to take on Treasury personally, as have several previous premiers, most recently Peter Gutwein.
Mr Rockliff’s minority government, which relies on independents to govern with just 14 seats in the 35-seat Assembly, is hoping Mr Ferguson’s departure to the backbench will allow a re-set after controversies over new ferry acquisitions and a bungled wharf project.
However, Labor and crossbenchers on Tuesday said the scandal – in which two new Spirit of Tasmania ferries blew out in budget by hundreds of millions and ran years late, as well as a failure to provide an adequate berth for the vessels – was far from over.
Labor leader Dean Winter said Mr Rockliff had failed to clarify key issues. “The Premier could not commit to the new Spirits both being in service, at full capacity, by the summer of 2026,” Mr Winter said. “He also did not commit to doubling day sailings of the Spirits this summer to recover lost capacity and support the tourism and hospitality businesses that have been impacted by the Spirits stuff-up.
“The Premier has also refused to issue a ministerial direction requiring Tas Ports to host the new ships here in Tasmania for free.
“Instead, the Tasmanian taxpayers will have to fork out up to $8000 a day to keep them in Hobart – or even hide the ships in Singapore.”
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