Federal election: Eric Abetz backs hierarchy after Amigos swept

TASMANIAN Liberal powerbroker Eric Abetz says thereis no need for a state-based autopsy of the federal election campaign despite the party losing its three sitting MPs.

Liberal Senator Eric Abetz at a media conference in Hobart yesterday. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

TASMANIAN Liberal powerbroker Eric Abetz says thereis no need for a state-based autopsy of the federal election campaign despite the party losing its three sitting MPs.

Senator Abetz has been quick to jump to the defence of the party’s hierarchy despite internal rumblings that he is to blame for the party likely being left with no Tasmanian Liberals in the House of Representatives.

Following Saturday’s vote, Australia is facing the possibility of a hung Parliament, after a late surge to Labor tore away the Coalition’s grasp on government and left Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull fighting for his political life.

The Coalition was looking at the loss of about 15 seats after Labor’s Bill Shorten cut a swath through Liberal seats in Tasmania, western Sydney and parts of Queensland.

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On current counting, the Coalition holds 72 seats to Labor’s 67, with four independents and one Green.

A number of groups have moved to take responsibility for the ousting of the “Three Amigos” — Andrew Nikolic (Bass), Brett Whiteley (Braddon) and probably Eric Hutchinson (Lyons) who is still refusing to concede — from the federal Lower House.

The fate of several well-known Tasmanian senators will not start to become clearer until tomorrow afternoon when the processing of below-the-line ballots begins.

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There was no update to the Senate figures from election night yesterday — so no ­answers to the questions burning on the lips of poll watchers everywhere: what will happen to Green Nick McKim, Liberal Richard Colbeck and Labor’s Lisa Singh?

Denison independent ­Andrew Wilkie, who attracted a swing of 6 per cent, took a call from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, but said he would not ­entertain any deals.

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Yesterday, Liberal Party ­insiders said there was a growing frustration in the party about the influence of Senator Abetz and how the campaign was run.

Senator Eric Abetz has been quick to jump to the defence of the party’s hierarchy. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

Senator Abetz’s office did not respond to those questions when contacted by the Mercury, but earlier he was backing the party hierarchy.

“Despite the excellent campaign efforts by everybody in Tasmania, including the state president, the state director and all the volunteers and the Senate team, regrettably we were swamped by national ­issues,” the right-wing powerbroker said.

Senator Abetz said Tasmanians reacted to “dishonourable and deceptive statements” about issues like Medicare.

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The Recreational Fishers Party, the Australian Education Union and the Tasmanians United for Marriage Equality plus the political movement GetUp! are all claiming to have impacted on the result.

GetUp! national director Paul Oosting said across Australia in electorates such as Bass, “home of hard-right factional leaders of the Liberal Party”, there have been huge swings against the Coalition.

“In Bass, a comprehensive people-powered campaign to unseat Andrew Nikolic has seen GetUp! members mobilise to have over 18,000 meaningful conversations, fund widespread advertising and digital communications, and hand out how to votes at 28 polling booths,” Mr Oosting said.

“The people of Bass’s concerns for their hospital funding and desire for more leadership on clean energy cannot be ­ignored any longer.”

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Commentators have also warned Premier Will Hodgman that the result will pose challenges for him when the state goes to the polls in 2018.

Premier Will Hodgman.

University of Tasmania political science lecturer Glenn Kefford said yesterday the election result was “a huge warning sign” for Mr Hodgman’s government.

“It has been a perfect storm and a combination of state and federal issues have resulted in a dramatic swing in the North,” Dr Kefford said.

Mr Hodgman did not face the media yesterday but used social media sites Twitter and Facebook to express his thoughts.

“Disappointed for the Tasmanian federal MPs who have lost their seats. They all worked hard and delivered a lot,” he said on Twitter.

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He was injected into the federal campaign in its final weeks, including featuring in a front page wrap-around ­advertisement in the Examiner on Friday that featured Mr Turnbull, but not Mr Nikolic.

University of Tasmania political scientist Richard Eccleston said a campaign against minor government, led by the Coalition in the dying days of the campaign, had not worked.