Liberal candidates put their hand up for the seat of Bass

Both Liberal contenders eligible to contest the recount for Peter Gutwein’s seat in the House of Assembly say they will nominate. THE CONTENDERS>>>

Both Liberal contenders eligible to contest the recount for Peter Gutwein’s seat in the House of Assembly say they will nominate.

Simon Wood and Greg Kieser were unsuccessful candidates at the 2021 state election — but one will enter the parliament as a member for Bass when state parliament resumes.

Once Mr Gutwein formally resigns, Governor Barbara Baker will advise the Tasmanian Electoral Commission to conduct a recount of Mr Gutwein’s 32,482 primary votes.

A recount in the seat has already been conducted: of primary votes cast for former Education Minister Sarah Coutney in February.

Candidates

Lara Alexander was declared elected, Mr Wood finished second and Mr Kieser finished third.

The results do not necessarily translate to the roughly 16 times more votes Mr Gutwein received.

Both men on Tuesday confirmed they would nominate to contest the recount.

Mr Wood, a former Launceston alderman, said he believe he was in with a good chance based on the predictions he had seen from political analysts.

“I’m quite confident based on their expertise in reading the numbers, but I don’t take anything for granted with Hare Clark,” he said.

“It will be a two-week nomination period once the premier formally resigns and then all we can do is wait for the result to be extracted.

“You put you had up for these things with a certain degree of knowledge about what’s involved and the requirements, but it is a roller coaster this sort of situation.”

Mr Kieser on Tuesday also confirmed he would nominate to contest the recount.

The Georgetown mayor said he stood ready to serve in parliament if the recount went his way.

“The ultimate litmus test is if your heart is still in it and if you want to contribute,” he said.

By contrast to standing as a candidate, there was a lot less work in contesting a recount, Mr Kieser said.

“In election mode there’s a lot to do you go out and work your butt off … but here there is nothing to do. The result will be what the result will be.”

Rise of Gutwein: How Peter became Premier

When Peter Gutwein proclaimed he would lead a government of “compassion” upon being appointed Premier two years ago, it wasn’t easy to reconcile his statement with his public persona.

A qualified black belt instructor in taekwondo, Mr Gutwein developed a reputation as the government’s chief headkicker after Will Hodgman and the Liberals came to power in 2014.

But when he was elevated to the premiership following Mr Hodgman’s resignation from parliament six years later, the bad cop suddenly became the good cop.

For keen observers of Tasmanian politics, it was difficult to imagine the electorate warming to him.

But warm to him they did. In June 2020, a Newspoll showed Mr Gutwein had achieved a staggering approval rating of 90 per cent.

Peter Gutwein as treasurer. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

It turned out there was more to the man than met the eye.

Born in England in 1964, Peter Gutwein was the oldest of six siblings. His parents, Eric and Barbara, moved the family to Nunamara, northeast of Launceston, when Peter was still a boy. He attended Myrtle Park Primary School, before going on to Queechy High School.

His upbringing was not without hardship. Tragedy struck the family when one of his brothers died due to a heart defect during an athletics race at just 10 years of age.

Mr Gutwein has also since revealed that he was sexually abused by a former school teacher when he was 16.

After graduating with a diploma in financial planning from Deakin University, he went on to work in a number of senior roles in the financial services industry in both Australia and Europe. He also ran a pub at Bridport in the state’s far north.

It wasn’t until 1995, when he was in his early thirties, that Mr Gutwein joined the Liberal Party. He would work as an adviser to the late Tasmanian Liberal senator Jocelyn Newman, a federal Cabinet minister.

Liberal member Peter Gutwein in 2004.

At age 37, he was elected to represent the northern electorate of Bass in the Tasmanian parliament. Then-Opposition Leader Rene Hidding made Mr Gutwein his shadow treasurer, demonstrating his faith in the new MP’s prowess.

Little more than a year later, however, he was unceremoniously dumped from shadow cabinet after crossing the floor to back a Greens motion to establish an inquiry into child abuse.

It was a moment that, in hindsight, spoke to a deep conviction borne of his own personal trauma.

When the Liberals won government in 2014, Mr Hodgman made Mr Gutwein his Treasurer.

During his tenure under Mr Hodgman, he sparred with journalists, ripped into his political opponents with fervour, and rarely wore a smile.

In short, he didn’t go out of his way to endear himself to the public.

But when he replaced Mr Hodgman as Premier just two months before Covid-19 completely disrupted life as we knew it, Mr Gutwein began to show a different side of himself.

At the height of the pandemic, he won plaudits for his decisiveness. The longer the pandemic went on, the more his popularity grew.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein in 2017. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

Calling an election a year early was a move fraught with danger, but one which ultimately paid off. With Mr Gutwein at the helm, the Tasmanian Liberals won a historic third consecutive term.

Since then, though, Mr Gutwein’s halo has begun to slip.

He was criticised for his handling of a scandal involving ex-Liberal MP Adam Brooks, who was elected in Braddon last year but resigned shortly after in the wake of firearms charges and allegations he had used false identities on dating apps.

More recently, the Premier has faced mounting scrutiny for his decision to reopen the state’s borders, which led to a surge in Covid cases.

In resigning on Monday, Mr Gutwein appeared at once exhausted and content. He said he wanted to spend more time with wife Amanda, and children Millie and Finn. “The greatest highlight for me as Premier has been the courage and compassion of Tasmanians,” he said.

Did he ultimately honour his commitment to lead a government of “compassion”? Everyone will have their own opinion on the matter.

Premier

But it’s safe to say that Mr Gutwein ably led Tasmania through its most difficult period in living memory. And for that alone, history will likely look kindly on him.

TIMELINE:

December 21, 1964: Born in England

July 20, 2002: Elected to Tasmanian parliament in Bass

August 6, 2002: Became Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Employment and Economic Development

December, 2003: Crossed floor to support Greens motion for Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse

April, 2004: Appointed Shadow Minister for Education, Shadow Minister for Police and Public Safety

March 31, 2014: Appointed Treasurer

Mar 2017: Refuses to disclose a letter to Public Accounts Committee addressed to then Energy Minister Matthew Groom regarding sale of Tamar Valley Power Station

January 20, 2020: Elected unopposed as leader of the Liberal Party, becoming 46th Premier of Tasmania

March 20, 2020: Closes Tasmanian borders to halt spread of coronavirus

December 2020: Supports Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill

Mar 15, 2021: Establishes Commission of Inquiry into Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings

May 1, 2021: Liberal government retains power in historic election win - Gutwein receives 48 per cent of Bass vote

March 10, 2022: Reveals he is a survivor of child sexual abuse

April 4, 2022: Resigns as Premier and member for Bass

‘Rebuilt the economy twice’: Gutwein’s departure analysed

Premier Peter Gutwein’s shock decision to resign after just two years in office throws the Tasmanian political landscape into turmoil.

His announcement comes just one year after leading the Liberals to a convincing and unprecedented third election win on the trot.

Mr Gutwein’s personal popularity played no small part in that victory. His handling of the Covid pandemic rightly won praise and garnered for his party the support needed to prevail.

His personal vote was so strong he dragged two other Liberals across the line in Bass.

But that victory was marred by questions surrounding the conduct of Liberal candidate Adam Brooks, who Mr Gutwein stood by doggedly despite mounting evidence against him.

As Treasurer, Mr Gutwein can lay claim to having rebuilt the Tasmanian economy not once but twice, the first time in the wake of the Labor-Greens term, the second after the devastation wrought by Covid.

He leaves office with the state at the top of a wave: unemployment at record lows and Tasmania topping the ratings from a range of analysts.

But the personal cost has been high. Mr Gutwein’s devotion to the never-ending demands of government have taken a toll, with a health scare last year forcing him to take time off.

His recent stint in isolation after a family member was diagnosed with Covid was clearly a time for reflection.

LOOKING BACK: The rise of Peter Gutwein

VIEW GALLERY

The Liberals have had a tough start to the year. Mr Gutwein lost one of his closest colleagues in Education Minister Sarah Courtney, then faced questions surrounding the conduct of Sports and Recreation Minister Jane Howlett. Labor is clearly invigorated. The premier held the line in parliament after two ministers were accused of groaning at a child sexual assault victims questions, and made a disclosure of his own experience as a victim-survivor.

Mr Gutwein’s loss will be a big blow for the Liberals. As their unquestioned top performer, he leaves his successor a budget to hand down in just over a month and a third reshuffle this year.

He leaves a government without it’s best parliamentary performer and a state without it’s most passionate advocate.

He also leaves his successor the state’s seemingly intractable problems, in health, in education and in housing. And he knew better than anyone that the Commission of Inquiry will deal some bitter lessons the whoever is in power when it hands down it’s final report.

Against that background, and with no obvious successor with the same mix of political nous and electoral appeal, Mr Gutwein leaves a tough job for whoever takes over. Without him to unite the disparate elements of his party as the polls show Labor regaining ground, suddenly the next election is looking like a much closer race.