Ex Jacqui Lambie Network members Miriam Beswick and Rebekah Pentland to sign new deal with Liberal government
Former Jacqui Lambie Network members say they will sign a new agreement with the Rockliff Liberal government. Read the latest.
Tasmania
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Update: Former Jacqui Lambie Network members Rebekah Pentland and Miriam Beswick – who were sensationally axed from the party on Saturday – say they will sign a new deal with the Rockliff Liberal government.
In a joint statement issued on Sunday, Ms Pentland and Ms Beswick said they were keen to maintain political stability for the state.
“We are committed to providing the certainty and stability Tasmania deserves, “ the statement said.
“We will continue to offer the Rockliff government supply and confidence.
“We’ll sign a new agreement with the Premier in the coming days and share that agreement publicly once it’s finalised.”
The two said they would not make any media appearances on Sunday. They are likely to front the media on Monday.
Meanwhile Labor leader Dean Winter says he doesn’t want Tasmanians to be forced to an early election after the ousting of two Jacqui Lambie Network MPs presented a new headache for the minority Liberal government.
Speaking at a media conference on Sunday afternoon, Mr Winter blamed Premier Jeremy Rockliff for the “instability” in the state parliament.
“There’s question marks over whether the Liberal-Lambie coalition agreement is still valid,” Mr Winter said.
“We know from [Lyons JLN MP Andrew] Jenner that he said he wants to tear it up as soon as possible.
“And we know that the former JLN members are now looking to do their own agreements. They’ve also said that they’re looking for more freedom within those agreements and there are question marks around what exactly will be negotiated with them in exchange for confidence and supply.”
Mr Winter said “like all Tasmanians” he didn’t want to see an early election and “just [wants] to see a government that is stable”.
“Tasmanians are always right and they’ve given us this parliament to try and work as best as possible,” he said.
Earlier: The axing by Senator Jacqui Lambie of two of her three Tasmanian MPs has thrown the government into “chaos” and damaged the state’s reputation, an academic says.
Professor Richard Herr said it was “highly questionable” whether the government had the numbers in parliament to govern.
“At the moment, the critical issue is that a third of the way through a year-long agreement it has fallen apart,” he said.
‘The government cannot deliver to the governor what they promised, which is supply to pay the ordinary costs of government, and confidence that the ministry has the support of the parliament to do its job.”
Before being expelled by Senator Lambie, member for Bass, Rebekah Pentland, and Braddon MHA, Miriam Beswick, both said they had a tough week and were considering their futures.
Senator Lambie quickly expelled them saying they no longer held the party’s values of “accountability, transparency and integrity”.
Both MPs said it was “with heavy hearts” they would sit as independents but they would guarantee supply and confidence.
Mrs Beswick said the relationship with Senator Lambie had “unfortunately deteriorated over the past few months”.
“Jacqui Lambie is a formidable politician and plays a vital role in the federal parliament,” she said.
Mrs Pentland said Tasmanians deserved certainty.
“We’ll continue to provide confidence and supply and will look to formalise that arrangement in the near future,” she said.
“We’re entering a critical budget session and the parliament needs to function predictably.
“Anything short of that will put business confidence at risk. No one wants to go to another election.”
Mrs Pentland said stability was of “utmost importance” and rejected Senator Lambie’s assertions that the two MPs did not stand for “accountability, transparency and integrity”.
“Integrity, above all, is the reason we are departing from JLN,” she said.
“While we’re committing to stability, we’ll continue to be fierce critics of the government when necessary.
“We’ve already shown we’re willing to vote against the government when it’s in the best interests of the state.”
JLN member for Lyons, Andrew Jenner, said he supported the decision to “immediately” remove both MPs, and that his relationship with the two MPs had become “unworkable”.
The expulsion was sparked by Senator Lambie’s call for Infrastructure Minister, Michael Ferguson to be sacked.
Situation a symptom of minority government, Labor says
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he would continue to “work with the Parliament that the Tasmanian people elected” to ensure stability.
“I will not resile from this, no matter how hard it gets or whatever challenges are thrown my way,” he said.
“I will not be distracted by an Opposition that has quickly reverted to their same old tactics of division, disruption and relentless negativity.”
Labor leader Dean Winter said as predicted it had not taken long for the JLN to “implode”.
“This speaks to the perils of minority government,” he said.
“We’ve got a government that’s lurched from crisis to crisis, from a budget that is now broken and an inability to deliver on almost any projects they attempt.
“The real question now for the premier is how he is going to resolve these issues, put together a new coalition so that he can get a budget through and provide the certainty for Tasmanian businesses.”
Parliament is due to resume on September 10 with the State Budget to be handed down on September 12.
What will happen now?
Premier Jeremy Rockliff will have to negotiate a new agreement with the two former Jacqui Lambie Network MPs to ensure his government survives, Professor Herr says.
“Undoubtedly, he will try to cobble one together, but then again, as soon as that happens, (JLN Lyons MHA) Andrew Jenner would then be looking at having a new deal for himself,” he said.
“It is bizarre that two-thirds of the party has gone.”
Prof Herr said it was “not inconceivable” that Labor could form government with the Greens and other independents.
But Labor leader Dean Winter has already ruled that out.
Prof Herr said the government’s instability was not good for business.
“We see that we have difficulty with the ports and the ferries, with health and serious challenges to major infrastructure, as in salmon farming.
“How is somebody going to invest in a state when it doesn’t look as if the state is governable?”
Prof Herr said Senator Lambie, who also expelled her fellow JLN Senator Tammy Tyrrell, had invested her reputation in her party.
“The problem that Jacqui Lambie has is the problem that Clive Palmer had and Pauline Hanson had, and that is having a party which is a personality party, sufficiently organised and disciplined to operate as an effective party,” he said.
“She invested her reputation in significant part, by calling it the Jacqui Lambie Network, and having a party that was based on her as the core and centre of policy making.”
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