Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein flags early election after minority blow

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein is refusing to rule out heading to the polls early after being plunged into minority government.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Tasmanian Liberal Premier Peter Gutwein is refusing to rule out an early state election after being plunged into minority government.

His comments came as jilted speaker Sue Hickey on Monday announced she would quit the Liberal Party after failing to secure support for preselection. 

Declaring she was “bloody happy I’m out of it”, Ms Hickey gave the government she is leaving a qualified commitment to confidence and supply.

She said this avoided giving Mr Gutwein “an excuse” to order an early election, which she expected would be called “very soon”. 

“I am guaranteeing Premier Peter Gutwein confidence and supply, so that I cannot be an excuse for an early election,” Ms Hickey told reporters. 

Sue Hickey has quit the Liberal Party. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“I’m really grateful to the Premier for liberating me from the Liberals. I feel like this giant boil has been lanced and all the poison and the puss and the toxicity of the last three years is over.

“Today, I start my new campaign as an independent for Clark. I’m happy that I’m able to go on and fight for all the things that I truly believe in and I’m not bogged down by party structure, dogma, group think – all the stuff that’s so toxic. I feel like I’m free.”

Her offer of confidence would be withdrawn if she saw any government corruption, she said.

Ms Hickey’s defection to the cross bench, which came after Mr Gutwein informed her over the weekend that she did not have support for preselection, leaves the Liberals with only 12 of 25 House of Assembly seats.

There is mounting speculation of an early election, which is not due until March 2022, with the Liberals riding high on a wave of public approval of the manner in which Mr Gutwein has handled the pandemic.

Ms Hickey had long been a party rebel, criticising the government at times and crossing the floor on a number of occasions, including to steal the speakership from the anointed Liberal candidate in a May 2018 parliamentary coup.

Mr Gutwein refused to rule out an early election. “That will depend on what occurs in the parliament and with Ms Hickey going forward,” he said.

“We are in new territory. I have an open mind in terms of an election … Tasmania will have an election when it needs it.”

He said the state was rebounding strongly from the pandemic, economically. “I hope that Ms Hickey doesn’t impact on that,” he said.

Mr Gutwein rejected Ms Hickey’s claim the Liberal Party “could not accommodate strong women of independent thought and initiative”, saying her dumping was “not about gender”.

“Strong government needs to act as a team (and) … more often than not Ms Hickey hasn’t been able to,” he said.