Jeremy Rockliff extends lead as preferred Premier in latest EMRS state voting intentions survey

A statewide survey has shown how Tasmanians would vote if an election were held today, revealing who enjoys the electorate’s support as preferred Premier.

Public support for Labor Leader Dean Winter has dropped by 2 per cent, according to new opinion polling. Picture: Caroline Tan

Support for Jeremy Rockliff as the preferred Premier of Tasmania has shot up by 5 per cent as voters also continue to back the Liberals over Labor, new opinion polling has shown.

The latest EMRS state voting intentions survey, conducted from August 14-21, interviewed 1000 registered Tasmanian voters.

The survey was carried out before Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson resigned as Infrastructure Minister and Rebekah Pentland and Miriam Beswick were expelled from the Jacqui Lambie Network.

Jeremy Rockliff has extended his lead as preferred Premier in the EMRS state voting intentions survey. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Mr Rockliff holds his lead as Tasmania’s preferred Premier, increasing his lead over Opposition Leader Dean Winter to 15 points.

Forty-five per cent of those surveyed said they preferred Mr Rockliff as Premier, equating to a 5 per cent increase compared to the previous poll in May.

He said the results indicated that Tasmanians “want positivity, they don’t want negative behaviour and they absolutely detest people talking Tasmania down”.

“They want people to talk Tasmania up. That’s what I do every single day,” Mr Rockliff said.

Support for Mr Winter was at 32 per cent when the last survey was conducted - the first since he became Labor leader. However, it has now fallen to 30 per cent.

The EMRS state voting intentions survey was conducted before Rebekah Pentland, left, and Miriam Beswick, right, were kicked out of the Jacqui Lambie Network. The pair will now sit in the state parliament as independents. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

Former leader Rebecca White’s support was at 39 per cent this time last year.

Asked about the survey results moments after they were released on Tuesday morning, Mr Winter said he hadn’t seen them yet so it was “hard to make a comment”.

The August 2024 EMRS survey showed that the Liberals enjoyed the support of 36 per cent of people surveyed, up one point since May, while Labor’s support was at 27 per cent, a 1 per cent decline.

Fourteen per cent of respondents supported the Greens, down marginally from 15 per cent in May.

The Jacqui Lambie Network garnered the backing of 8 per cent of surveyees, which represented an increase of 1 per cent since the last poll.

EMRS said support for independents had remained unchanged and was still at 3 per cent.

Survey responses were weighted to reflect Tasmania’s adult voting population.