Rebecca White says Labor’s position on power sharing is clear, despite leaving the door open for her party to form minority government in 2018.
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The Opposition’s Health spokeswoman said the party had “learned our lessons from the past” and would not allow MPs from other parties to enter a Labor cabinet, but did not rule out attempting to govern if Labor failed to win a majority of seats at the next election.
Ms White’s comments seemingly contradict that of Labor Leader Bryan Green, who told ABC Radio on Monday that Labor would govern in majority or not at all.
But Ms White echoed the party’s Treasury spokesman, Scott Bacon, in stressing there was no confusion between Labor MPs.
“The Labor Party’s position is very clear here. We have a rule change that went to the conference in 2014 that states quite clearly that Labor will have nothing other than a Labor cabinet if we form government,” Ms White said.
“There is certainly no intention ever again of forming a minority government with Greens or other independent members in a Labor cabinet.”
Ms White pledged Labor would continue to “work hard to win the trust of the community”, with the intention of forming a majority government at the next election.
The party has been repeatedly questioned on the issue following EMRS polling that indicated no party would win the 13 seats required to form majority government if the state election was held now.
Psephologist Kevin Bonham said the poll result would likely lead to the Liberals winning 11 seats to Labor’s 10, with the Greens holding 4.
Political analyst Richard Eccleston said a party forming majority government was increasingly becoming the exception rather than the rule and called for all parties to be clear about how they would govern if they failed to form a majority.
“It’s a sensitive issue, because rightly or wrongly, and it’s wrongly in my opinion, there are sensitivities about minority governments in Tasmania,” Dr Eccleston said.
“The community is changing and voting patterns are changing… it’s not credible for both major parties to say we’re only going to form government from a majority.”
Bass Liberal MHA Sarah Courtney went on the offensive on Tuesday, calling on Mr Green to make it clear whether he supported Labor forming a minority government.