Tasmania July to December 2023

Against a background of low unemployment, Tasmania's government, the last remaining Liberal administration in the country, was buffeted relentlessly during the turbulent last six months of the year such that some commentators were predicting its demise. The Rockcliff minority government began and ended the period with 11 of 25 seats, but at one point was down to ten in the lower house following the forced resignation of Elise Archer, the Attorney-General. The Voice referendum failed against earlier predictions of success, and there were reports from major enquiries on child sexual abuse and on racing that required urgent action. The Greens leader, Cassy O'Connor, resigned and was replaced with Vica Bayley, who made an extraordinary maiden speech. The major parties combined to pass weak political donations reforms and secure public funding for their benefit. The new Attorney-General botched an attempt to deal with concerns arising from criminal charges made against a Supreme Court judge. There were also continuing issues with the proposed AFL stadium, a refuelling farce with the new Antarctic icebreaker, the death of the premier's father, and interference in a grant application by a minister. In December, the Labor party announced its candidates for the next election, leaving a former leader ignored while another was embraced and, to the relief of the Liberals, its rift unhealed.

Total unemployment for the period was steady at a low 4.1 percent in trend terms or a little over 12,000 people (ABS 6202.0). The rate was comparable with national averages.

The Attorney-General, Elise Archer, sensationally resigned her Clark seat in the House of Assembly in September after being dismissed from cabinet amid allegations of workplace bullying and sending inappropriate messages. In one leaked message, Archer described premier Rockliff as ‘too gutless to be leader’. In another message, she said she was ‘sick of victim-survivors’, which she said had been taken out of context. Her resignation followed an ultimatum from the premier, who gave her a deadline to either quit parliament or guarantee a vote of supply and confidence in his government. If she did neither, Rockcliff said he would call a state election (Guardian 4 October).

Amid the chaos, ex-Liberal John Tucker (Lyons) called for Michael Ferguson to challenge for the leadership as he was at risk of becoming ‘the Peter Costello of the Liberal Party in Tasmania’. However Ferguson rebuffed the call saying he was a team player, not a wrecker (Kevin Bonham 4 October).

Hobart City councillor Simon Behrakis comfortably won the Archer recount on 23 October, defeating fellow conservative Liberal, Will Coats 55.2 to 44.7 percent (TEC 23 October). Behrakis then resigned his council seat immediately, which was easily won by Coats.

The October national referendum on the Aboriginal Voice to Parliament was defeated in Tasmania as it was in other states, although two out of its five electorates voted Yes. The state result was 41.1 percent Yes and 58.9 percent No, the second highest state Yes vote and almost exactly the same as New South Wales. At over 92 percent, Tasmania's turnout was the highest in the nation. All state-level parties had backed the Yes vote, as did Bass left-Liberal MHR Bridget Archer and the Jacqui Lambie Network. The two electorates that voted Yes were both in the South – Clark (58.1 percent) and Franklin (50.6 percent). Results by polling booth showed a strong correlation between low income areas and the No vote (AEC 2 November results). Early polling had suggested that the state vote would be positive. However disunity on the issue amongst public representatives of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community probably contributed to its defeat.

The final report of the commission of inquiry into the Tasmanian government's responses to child sexual abuse in institutional settings was released in September after a three-year investigation. It followed horrific allegations of child sexual abuse committed in institutions that should protect children — out of home care, schools, the state's youth detention centre and the Launceston General Hospital. The report said the government's reaction to child sexual abuse allegations since 2000 ‘had too often been inadequate’ and that children's safety in government institutions needed to be significantly improved (ABC 1 December).

Attorney-General Barnett said that all 191 recommendations would be implemented, and 83 percent of them would be completed by July 2026. They involved 54 legislative reforms including creating new crimes such as ‘failing to protect a child or young person’ and ‘sexual abuse of a child or young person by a person in authority’, as well as increasing the age of criminal responsibility to 14. He said that the government had already established two pilot multidisciplinary centres in the north and south, that brought together family violence, sexual assault, and police and prosecution services under one roof, with planning underway for a third in the North-West, as well as new trauma-informed training across the state service (Guy Barnett MP 1 December). The government had earlier confirmed that the dysfunctional Ashley youth detention centre near Deloraine would be closed and a new facility built at Pontville in the state's south (Education department 23 September).

Following serious media allegations of race fixing and animal welfare concerns in the Tasmanian racing industry, the government established an independent investigation, including into the performance of the Office of Racing Integrity. The investigation was conducted by ‘racing and national integrity expert’, Ray Murrihy. Initially intended to be finalised by mid-year, Murrihy was granted extensions due to the workload involved. After the hapless racing minister, Madeleine Ogilvie was dismissed from her role on 23 July, Felix Ellis was appointed to the position. He released an interim report on 20 September which addressed only two of the seven terms of reference – about animal welfare regulation and administrative changes to ensure racing integrity (Tasmanian Times 29 November). As at end of the year, however, the final report was yet to be released.

Greens leader, Cassy O'Connor, announced her retirement from the House of Assembly on 13 July. O'Connor was first elected in 2008, became Minister for Human Services, Community Development, Aboriginal Affairs and Climate Change during the Labour-Green government, and in 2015 became leader of the party following the retirement of Kim Booth. Despite resigning from the House, O'Connor said she would seek pre-selection for the Legislative Council seat of Hobart. Dr Rosalie Woodruff (Franklin) assumed the role of leader (ABC 13 July).

On muwinina country I acknowledge the elders past. Such was the severity and swiftness of the invasion of nipaluna, the place we now know and love as Hobart and the electorate I represent, I cannot pay tribute to elders present. The muwinina are no longer. Some of the first to fall in a catastrophic transformation of this island, its first people and the culture they shared with the land, sea and sky since time began. Around the state, the same scenario of genocide, eviction, cultural erasure and the appropriation of land was repeated with a chilling, devastating effect. War was waged and proud, sovereign people were hunted, murdered, haunted and harried into a state of pure, undiluted terror for their fate and their future.

Those who survived, people already stolen or now dispossessed, were exiled off-shore under a treaty of peace that was dishonored by the powers of the time, the very crown that we now represent in this House. Such is the resilience, strength and perseverance of these people, the palawa/pakana survive today and the spirit of the mewinina, the claim to their lands and connection to their country lives on through the contemporary Aboriginal Community…” (Hansard 25 August).

The Liberal and Labor parties combined to support “Australia's worst state-based political donations disclosure legislation” (Tasmanian Inquirer 7 December), as Labor abandoned its proposed amendments at the last minute in the House of Assembly. The Electoral Disclosure and Funding Bill was passed on 17 November (Premier's website). It requires that donations of more than $5000 per year to a party or candidate will be made public every six months outside an election period. During an election period, such donations must be disclosed within two weeks of receipt. An obvious flaw is that if large donations are received less than a fortnight before the election, then they do not have to be disclosed before the ballot is held.

The bill also authorises public funding of $6 per vote for parties and candidates that attract more than 4 per cent of the primary vote in House of Assembly elections but – unlike most other states – does not set a campaign spending cap. The Tasmanian Electoral Commission will provide administrative funding to parties and candidates running in House of Assembly elections, but not for the Legislative Council.

During the Legislative Council debate, the government agreed to three minor amendments that helped clarify its provisions, including one that repaired a defect in the public funding methodology identified by election analyst Kevin Bonham. The error had arisen from mistaken advice to the Attorney-General about a similar provision in the ACT legislation, where the Hare-Clark system is also used. To the chagrin of community groups and pundits, Labor MPs sat silently through the debate on these amendments (Tasmanian Inquirer 7 December).

Gregory Geason, a Tasmanian Supreme Court judge, faced the Hobart Magistrates Court on Friday 1 December charged with one count of emotional abuse or intimidation and one count of common assault. The court session before magistrate Chris Webster was closed to the public and the media, for which the court administrator later apologised. Geason pleaded not guilty to all charges and was granted bail as well as a complimentary ride home in an unmarked police car.

He was accused of subjecting “a person to verbal abuse … persistent yelling and screaming” and of “exhibiting jealousy, rage, anger and aggression” between April and November 2023. He was also accused of “tracking a person's movements using technology, coercing them into establishing a shared phone account to gain access to their electronic records, and scrutinising their electronic devices and reviewing messages, including deleted messages”. It was also alleged that he “demanded they contribute $300,000 equity from their own home, and pressured them to sign the contract of sale on a home” in the Hobart area (ABC 6 December).

Geason took leave but retained his powers as a Supreme Court judge as he could only be suspended or dismissed by the governor acting on the advice of parliament under an untested nineteenth century law.

In response to this unprecedented situation, Chief Justice Alan Blow suggested to Geason in a leaked text message that he could “resign before this goes further” (Australian 8 December). Hours later, Attorney-General Guy Barnett foreshadowed that he would recall parliament to hold an inquiry to suspend Geason until the charges were resolved. However, following objections by lawyers and further consultation with the Solicitor-General, Barnett told parliament that he had a received a written undertaking from Geason that he would remain on leave and would “not seek or attempt to exercise the powers of a judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania” while the legal proceedings were pending (Attorney-General 12 December). During debate, Opposition leader, Rebecca White lost a motion for an inquiry into the circumstances of the closed hearing and related matters.

During October, a private development consortium unveiled an alternative concept for Hobart's controversial proposed new AFL stadium, dubbed ‘Stadium 2.0’. The site projected into the river Derwent on reclaimed land and featured 450 apartments in its waterfront façade as a way of ensuring economic viability. Located close to Macquarie Point, the concept design was significantly lower and less obtrusive than the original proposal, and received positive comments from interested parties such as the RSL and aboriginal groups. Designed by engineer Dean Coleman, the concept was promoted by former Labor premier, Paul Lennon (Pulse 19 October).

Through sports minister Nic Street, the government first rejected the idea as it was not exactly as agreed with the AFL. However the premier subsequently said he was “open-minded” to the proposal. Yet a few weeks later, premier Rockcliff said his government was “unable to support the proposal at this time”, and was “full steam ahead” on the original plans. He further hedged on 6 November by requesting more details from the consortia and set a deadline of 5 February for answers to a series of questions. The “full steam ahead” remark had an ironic twist to it in December when it was revealed that the 108-year old railway goods shed on the site was set for heritage listing and would prove very difficult to remove (ABC 8 December).

The creation of a Tasmanian AFL team progressed with the announcement of a ‘high performance centre’ for the club to be built at Rosny on Hobart's Eastern shore. Mayor of Clarence and former Liberal candidate, Brendan Blomely, said it provided an opportunity for further parkland development in Rosny. The $70 million facility was scheduled to be ready by 2026, before the Tasmanian AFL team's first season in 2028 (ABC 21 December).

Australia's new $528 m icebreaking research vessel was found to be significantly wider than initially designed and to lack sufficient directional control to safely pass underneath Hobart's Tasman bridge to refuel upriver from its berth. Harbourmaster Mick Wall denied permission for the RSV Nuyina to pass underneath the bridge due to such safety concerns. As a consequence, the 160-metre ship had to sail an extra 660 kilometres to refuel at Burnie in the northwest of the state, costing the division nearly $900,000 and generating more emissions. While the Australian Antarctic Division had earlier assured critics that the ship would be suitable to navigate under the bridge, recent computer simulations and tests showed that it would fail to navigate the main span in a significant proportion of cases. The Division said that it was exploring the option of fuel barges as an alternative measure (ABC 3 December).

Rick Rockliff, popular north-west Tasmania farmer and father of premier Jeremy Rockliff, died in November aged 79. Mr Rockliff spent decades as a leader in establishing the alkaloid, or legal opium industry in the state, and was an award-winning poppy and potato farmer. On a lighter note, he was also known as the man behind the ‘big spud’, Kenny Kennebec, which was displayed at Sassafras on the Bass highway near his farm (ABC 29 November).

The government department of State Growth described minister Guy Barnett's request for “positive consideration” regarding a grant application as “not acceptable practice or normal protocol”. The grant application was for a distillery headed by Tarrant Derksen, whose brother Justin Derksen was a former distillery director, former Liberal candidate and current adviser to Barnett. The government ultimately promised New Norfolk Distillery a $1.2 million grant earlier in the year outside of the usual grant processes, which would be combined with a government loan for capital works (ABC 5 December). Labor's Dean Winter said Mr Barnett should ‘resign or be sacked’ over the matter (Dean Winter 4 December).

On 1 December, Labor leader Rebecca White announced a list of candidates who were pre-selected for the next state election. The early declaration underlined the precarious situation of the Liberal minority government, given that the next election was not due until 2025. At least five candidates in each electorate were declared, with the remainder of seven per electorate to be revealed “in due course and as their work permits”. The list did not include ousted former leader, David O'Byrne, who issued a media release the same day stating that the news was “devasting” and that he would “take some time” to consider his future.

By contrast, a week later White announced that former deputy premier and opposition leader, Bryan Green, had been endorsed for the upper house seat of Prosser for the May 2024 election against sitting Liberal Jane Howlett (Tasmania Times 8 December). Green had had a colourful career in government and in opposition. In 2006 he was involved in a scandal concerning the Tasmanian Compliance Corporation after which he was forced to resign from the front bench and was twice before the courts. Green was White's immediate predecessor as leader when she first assumed the role in 2017.