The new government coalition - a stable platform, or a house of cards?

The man endured gruelling setbacks on the floor of the House of Assembly towards the end of last year, and then a desperate snap election campaign that saw his party's primary vote fall significantly.

But this week, Mr Rockliff put the last pieces of his political jigsaw in place when he received the support of two key members - independents David O'Byrne and Kristie Johnston.

Both sighed letters promising, with caveats, to support the Liberals in the chamber on matters of confidence and supply.

Combined with the deal already done with the three new members from the Jacqui Lambie Network, the Liberal minority government now has 19 votes it can count on for passing its money bills and for no-confidence votes - which it is sure to face from day one from the Labor opposition.

While the government will have to work hard to pass the bills it want to pass, for now, it has a comparatively stable base from which to govern.

The question now is, how long will this last?

For some political analysts like Kevin Bonham, the Premier's coalition could be stable enough to last some time.

But he sees a number of risks stemming from the letters signed by the two independents.

"The Johnston one is really not much of an agreement at all," he says.

"She was saying that she will give them supply and she was saying that she'd discuss any confidence issues with them before they arise, but her conditions for confidence are pretty broad.

"She's saying things like, 'governing in the interest of Tasmania and its people' - that to me could mean anything."

In her letter to the Premier offering confidence and supply, Ms Johnston carved out wide exclusions where her support would not be guaranteed.

"Where there is corruption, wrongdoing or gross mismanagement of a portfolio, then I cannot provide confidence," her letter read.

It's not difficult to imagine a scenario where Ms Johnston became convinced that a portfolio is being "grossly mismanaged" - the racing portfolio comes to mind.

David O'Byrne's letter made similar lukewarm commitments, assuring his support in no-confidence votes only if there were no "reprehensible failures of policy and governance".

What Mr O'Byrne considers a 'reprehensible failure of policy and governance' is anyone's guess.

He will undoubtedly be under considerable pressure from his former Labor colleagues - as well as any number of left-wing unions - to take as broad a view on what is a 'reprehensible failure' as possible.

As Labor demonstrated last year, a government losing votes on the floor of the House of Assembly looks weak, so the opposition has every incentive to pressure the likes of Ms Johnston and Mr O'Byrne.

Then, there's the Lambies.

At first glance, the deal they have signed is more restrictive, and makes it extremely difficult for any of them to vote against the government.

But this deal only lasts if they are members of the Jacqui Lambie Network.

As was shown immediately following the state election, when Senator Tammy Tyrrell left to become an independent, the JLN might not prove to be the stable platform that the Premier wants and needs.

The defection of even one of the Lambies would be another disaster for the government.

There is no indication yet that any of the three members - Miriam Beswick, Andrew Jenner and Rebekah Pentland - want to rock the party boat.

That could be because either they don't want to, or because they haven't had much of a chance to yet.

Under Mr Rockliff's best scenario, passing the legislation he wants will be like pushing a boulder up a hill.

Under his worst - the ground could collapse beneath him again.