Liberals head for victory in Tasmanian state election

By Andrew DarbyMarch 15, 2014, 1 p.m.

The Liberal Party was within grasp of its first majority government in Tasmania for 18 years on Saturday - as Labor admitted it faced a hard task of keeping voter interest.

The Liberal Party was within grasp of its first majority government in Tasmania for 18 years on Saturday - as Labor admitted it faced a hard task of keeping voter interest.

The Liberals were last in power for two years in minority backed by the Greens from 1996 to 1998, and this time party leader Will Hodgman warned against a repetition of any power-sharing arrangement.

"The thought of another Labor-Green government with a tinge of Palmer United thrown in is a frightening prospect as far as I'm concerned," Mr Hodgman said after he voted in central Hobart.

However the 44-year-old former lawyer, son of the late Liberal veteran Michael Hodgman, is favoured to take the party to power in its own right, with opinion polls indicating a majority of one to three seats in the 25 seat House of Assembly.

EMRS, ReachTEL and Newspoll surveys all pointed to the majority, with Labor falling back to six or seven seats in the 25 seat House of Assembly, the Greens likely to keep four seats, and the PUP an outside chance at a single seat.

The change would end four successive terms of Labor-led government, a stretch that premier Lara Giddings said had left her with mixed emotions.

"It's difficult when you've been in power for 16 years to capture the imagination, and you must work off your record," Ms Giddings said.

Ms Giddings denied she felt an air of inevitability about defeat.

Continue reading here:

Liberals head for victory in Tasmanian state election

Related Posts

Comments are closed.