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'We saw their platform not only as a threat to majority government, but to the state': Tasmanian Premier-elect Will Hodgman. Photo: Peter Mathew

The Tasmanian Liberal Party in Tasmania considered the Palmer United Party such a serious threat to its majority government ambitions in the state election that it hired a corporate spin doctor to run a campaign against it.

Premier-elect Will Hodgman confirmed in a post-victory interview that Liberal campaign resources were put into negating the ultimately unsuccessful challenge from Clive Palmer's party.

It included hiring Melbourne-based former Liberal adviser Ian Hanke, now a private public relations professional who worked for suspended Essendon coach James Hird. It is understood Mr Hanke helped with a barrage of 50 releases pointing the Tasmanian media at PUP's failings and has since now claimed the party is falling apart in the island state.

PUP took 4.9 per cent of the vote in Saturday's state election, compared to Senator-elect Jacquie Lambie's 6.58 per cent for the party at the 2013 Federal election.

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Of the full tickets they ran across the island, only one candidate, Kevin Morgan in the north-west seat of Braddon, still has a remote chance of falling across the line on preferences when they are eventually cut up.

"We saw their platform not only as a threat to majority government, but to the state," Mr Hodgman told Fairfax Media.

"No matter what [Mr Palmer] spent, how colourful it was, it was superficial. So we did take that very seriously...We certainly weren't going to be nice guys in this when we saw a threat to the state."

Mr Hodgman said he made no apology for including in the Liberal campaign headquarters a number of very professional campaigners, including Mr Hanke.

Read more:
Liberals targeted Palmer United Party 'threat' with spin campaign in Tasmanian election