Jeremy Rockliff supports Peter Dutton as next PM but sings praises of Anthony Albanese

He’s a Liberal Premier but Jeremy Rockliff has praised Labor PM Anthony Albanese ahead of next year’s federal election. Read what he said.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Final day of state parliament for 2024. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

With a federal election looming, Premier Jeremy Rockliff, has surprisingly praised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for looking after Tasmania.

Launching the annual Taste of Summer festival in Hobart on Saturday, he also reflected on minority government since the March state election and the bigger House of Assembly.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton has visited twice in a month campaigning in Lyons which is seen as a must win seat by both major parties.

Labor’s Brian Mitchell has held Lyons at the past three elections but has stepped aside to allow former Labor leader Rebecca White to run against the Liberal’s Susie Bower.

“I will walk and work alongside Peter when he comes to Tasmania, and indeed, of course, fantastic local member Bridget Archer,” Mr Rockliff said.

“We’ve got some tremendous candidates across the state and a great Senate team.

“Of course, I’ll be supporting Peter Dutton, but I’ve worked well with our current prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

“Anthony and I together have delivered a great deal for Tasmania in a range of areas, but I know Peter Dutton will also be a great Prime Minister, and one will also look after Tasmania.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff at Launceston General Hospital. Picture: Prime Ministers Office

After some pundits predicted his government would not survive, Mr Rockliff said he felt “very confident and uplifted” by the past year.

“It was a challenging year, but a year where the parliament stood up, a larger parliament, a minority parliament, a parliament where just about everyone, if you like, had a win with the issues they were passionate about,” he said.

“As a government, we had almost 100 per cent of our agenda through the lower house, and we’ll work this year on areas that we weren’t successful in.

“So I feel very uplifted. I’m enthusiastic about 2025.”

Mr Rockliff said the Tasmanian economy was strong and unemployment was “half what it was a decade ago”.

“Our inflation is the lowest in the nation and we’ve created some 45,000 jobs over the last decade and we continue to invest in enabling infrastructure,” he said.

“We see challenges, of course, and those challenges around the cost of living, health and housing remain, as they remain with every government across Australia, indeed around the world, but we’re up for those challenges.

“We’re investing record amounts in health, we’ve built 4000 homes over the course of the last five years.”

Front L-R Deputy Premier Guy Barnett, Governor of Tasmania Her Excellency Barbara Baker, Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Middle L-R Minister Jo Palmer, Minister Jacquie Petrusma, Minister Madeleine Ogilvie, Minister Felix Ellis, Minister Jane Howlett. Back L-R Minister Kerry Vincent, Minister Eric Abetz, Minister Nick Duigan, Minister Roger Jaensch. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Mr Rockliff acknowledged the government had “more to do”.

He said increasing the number of members in the House of Assembly from 25 to 35 was the right decision.

“It was a brave decision to increase the size of parliament. It’s well recognized that was a mistake in 1998 when it was decreased and we have a more functioning parliament and a more democratic parliament.”

The election is due by May.

Originally published as Jeremy Rockliff supports Peter Dutton as next PM but sings praises of Anthony Albanese