The Tasmanian election was a disaster for both major parties, but only Labor has a path back.
All elections carry messages which parties and politicians ignore at their peril. There have been many such messages for the Liberals, and all have been ignored.
The message is that the electorate, right around the country, has been moving steadily to the left at least since the Global Financial Crisis upended everything. In response, the Liberal Party has moved further right, abandoning its core seats to the Teals, the Greens and Labor, and shunning the centre ground.
That is playing out in Tasmania, as elsewhere. The Liberal government of Jeremy Rockliff will be returned, but in a shaky minority that will be lucky to last longer than 18 months. That they are now now in opposition is entirely due to the directionless and inept Labor leadership.
On election night Rockliff, amazingly, claimed resounding victory. But the Greens should stop crowing too: even in an expanded House, with ten extra seats available, they have managed only two or three more. And their vote is still below their 35-year average.
Tasmania awaits a government that knows why it exists. None, currently, are available.
Continue reading the full article at the Policy Post, here:
In their last redoubt, the Liberals lurch further to the right – and oblivion
Republished from The Policy Post March 27, 2024
Martyn Goddard is a public policy analyst specialising in health and state government funding. He was a member of the Australian Council on AIDS and Related Diseases and its clinical subcommittee; as well as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. He also served as a health policy officer at the Australian Consumers' Association (Choice).
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