Eric Abetz sucked into Tasmanian Liberal Party turbulence

There are two narratives that have emerged following the shock resignations of conservative government backbenchers Lara Alexander and John Tucker that starkly highlight the division between the conservatives and moderates in the party.

One is that Liberal powerbroker and longtime former senator, Eric Abetz, has sought to wield his influence and orchestrate something of a Machiavellian manoeuvre to convince the conservative MPs to quit the party, sit on the backbench, throw the government into minority and destablise Jeremy Rockliff's leadership.

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The other is that the old-school headkicker should be dragged into the narrative in an effort to damage any ambitions he might have to run in the next state election, and thus, bring him to his knees before he has a chance to reignite his political career and become a dominant force within the party room.

It is compelling.

Without the balance of power and facing fierce opposition to his Macquarie Point stadium deal with the AFL, Mr Rockliff is vulnerable.

There are few more suited to the role of wily and opportunist political predator than Mr Abetz, a national totem for the conservative side of Liberal politics.

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Rockliff's support of the Indigenous Voice to parliament - in direct contrast to Federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton - and the platform his deal with the AFL provided to Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would not have played well with Abetz or his supporters.

Two Liberal Party sources believe Mr Abetz had involvement with at least Mr Tucker's decision to leave the party.

"There is absolutely no way that Tucker did this without the approval of Eric Abetz," one source said.

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"I mean, this is a bloke who's referred to him as the godfather unironically for as long as he's known him.

"Jeremy's a moderate leader so Eric would be pretty unhappy with that.

"He reckons he's gonna stick his hand up in Franklin for pre-selection and he wouldn't be happy with the idea of running in an election with Jeremy as leader.

"He's getting more reckless though. As time has gone on here, it's become more about Eric and less about the party."

Another source said Mr Abetz would likely get elected once the House of Assembly went back to 35 seats which would indicate why he would seek to play a role in destabilising a progressive leader.

"The fact that he is getting involved in state politics is not surprising," they said.

On the morning of the pair's resignations, Mr Abetz sent Ms Alexander a text message seen by Australian Community Media in which he begged her not to leave the party.

"We need you for the sake of conservative politics and the supporters who admire you in the party," the text message read.

"We can't lose you. I plead with you Lara, please don't jump."

A spokesman for John Tucker said Mr Abetz was in no way involved with his decision to resign from the party.

He said although the two were good friends, they agreed to differ on this decision.

Mr Abetz said those who peddled the falsehood that he played a role in the resignations caused themselves reputational damage, rather than himself.

"Their lack of credibility is exposed by their unwillingness to put their name to the falsehood," he said.

One Liberal insider said they did not believe there was a factional problem within the Parliamentary Liberal Party nor was Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson planning to undermine Mr Rockliff and seize leadership.

"Michael Ferguson is exceptionally loyal in that respect, especially to the party," the source said.

"There are probably members of the right in the PLP that are a bit unhappy with some of the positions that have been taken, but I just don't believe that any of them would ever go to this extent to try and prove the point."

The party source said the average Tasmanian Liberal voter would be fine with the government's direction and Mr Rockliff's stance on particular issues, however, that might be a bit different to the average Tasmanian Liberal Party member.

"But I don't think that's necessarily where we've got to be pitching, I mean, we've got to win elections," they said.

On the point of Mr Ferguson's ambitions to one day lead the Liberals, another source said he would not aspire to take the job through warfare.

"That's just not his style, he is very happy where he is and happy to wait his turn to take the job with clean hands," they said.

"To be clear, there is no one else remotely able."

Eric Abetz entered federal parliament as a senator in 1994 to fill a casual vacancy after two failed attempts in the 1984 and 1993 elections.

He was elected in his own right four years later.

Known as a master of numbers, Mr Abetz was able to ensure that he was on the number one spot on the Liberal senate ticket for subsequent elections until 2021, therefore the main beneficiary of above-the-line votes.

In the last federal election, he was relegated to the third position on the ticket, under Jonathon Duniam and Wendy Askew - a position widely known as an unwinnable spot.

Labelled a conservative warrior, Mr Abetz as a senior minister in the Howard government once wielded considerable power over the Liberal Party.

His influence, however, diminished under the leaderships of Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison.

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