Senior Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz has praised Will Hodgman on winning a “thumping” majority in yesterday’s state election.
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“Today’s a bittersweet day for the Liberal Party in Tasmania,” Senator Abetz said.
“Bitter because we mourn the loss of a very dear family member in Vanessa Goodwin who served the party so faithfully both at the organisational level, but then of course at the parliamentary level rising to Attorney-General and Leader of the Government in the Upper House.
“So our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends at this time and as a Liberal Party we mourn her loss.”
Senator Abetz said the sweet part was winning such a big majority of the popular vote.
“To score 50.5 per cent of the primary vote, with Labor reduced to 32.5 per cent and the Greens very lucky to be in double figures with 10.1 per cent is indicative that Will Hodgman and the Liberal team, along with our state president and state director, have been able to capture the imagination and support of the Tasmanian people which has been rewarded by this resounding election result.
“It is exceptional and Will Hodgman now joins the pantheon of Robin Gray as being the only Liberal premier to have been able to deliver a second term majority Liberal government.”
Senator Abetz dismissed suggestions that the gaming industry had bought the election.
“The suggestion that the election was bought is an insult to the Tasmanian people.
“The support one gets varies from election to election depending on the policy platform.
“The Tasmanian people know what the issues are, they know what motivates them when they go to the ballot box.”
On poker machines, he believes Labor will revisit its policy to ban pokies in pubs and clubs.
“I think the Labor Party will have to come to the realisation that their policy did not attract the attention of the Tasmanian people
“With a primary vote of 32.5 per cent, they really have to undertake a deep analysis and understand why they were unable to gain the traction that they needed to get anywhere near forming government.
“I would invite Labor to go back and ask where did they go wrong? The scorched earth policy that they were going to have for poker machines, under strict analysis, was exposed as being very superficial.
“Nick Xenophon who started his political life as a no pokies campaigner is not going to the South Australian election in a fortnight with a bizarre, extreme policy of the Greens and Labor in this state.”
He believes the election was won because Tasmania’s unemployment rate had dropped from 8.5 per cent to 5.7 per cent and that the Hodgman Government had delivered “a bucket load and was worthy of another term.”
“It wasn’t only the past record but Will Hodgman’s forward looking platform of taking us to the next level that captured the people’s imagination.”
In a start contrast to the party’s loss in the Pembroke election, he said the party had adapted and been flexible.
Senator Abetz does not believe the election result has any bearing federally.
“I think this is very much a Tasmanian result,” he said.
He said he hoped Labor leader Rebecca White’s failure to acknowledge the Premier in her tally room speech was an oversight.