Will Hodgman doorstop

Will Hodgman MP Leader of the State OppositionHodgman doorstop
Press Conference, Parliament House
Tuesday 17 November 2009

Please note this transcript has not been proofed.

Will Hodgman:

Today the Premier came into Parliament and he said he was going to lay the facts on the table, all the facts, well he has done anything but that. There are still questions that remain unanswered and we had the most excruciating display today of a Premier who’s desperate, looking after protecting his own skin and doing whatever it takes to secure his prospects for March of next year. We have seen a Premier that’s desperate, that’s rattled and that today has tried to tell the Tasmanian Parliament and the Tasmanian community that black is white. Well, unfortunately David Bartlett has more questions to answer. He did insert some new information into the debate today, and we will look forward to giving him an opportunity to explain himself tomorrow in our Parliament. We are fast running out of sitting days, and in our view he has an obligation to the Tasmanian people, to for once just be honest, upfront, and transparent. It makes a mockery of his claim when he became Premier that he was going to tell the truth at all times, that today we saw him slipping and sliding around the issues.

Journalist:

Will, is it time to take this whole thing forward, rather than going back what Mr Hine and Mr Bartlett did or did not talk about. Is it time to take it forward and say what actually changed his mind?

Will Hodgman:

We are trying to advance this issue. We need to start with some basic facts and we need the Premier to acknowledge the very real fact that he made an extraordinary decision in the first place, given the advice that was presented to him by the Acting Police Commissioner Hine. He hasn’t explained why he was not persuaded to act on that advice, which is a glaring omission from Mr Bartlett’s comments to the Parliament today. Not only has he exposed himself for exercising poor judgement he has very clearly in our view a case to answer about misleading our Parliament. He has given two versions of what went on. He has not explained why he arrived at the decision, for whatever reasons and as I say we believe it’s appropriate that the Premier of the day, who is fast losing the confidence of the Tasmanian public to give him the opportunity to do what he said he would, and that’s tell the truth at all times. When he became Premier he made that bold claim and he is now fast running out of days to prove it.

Journalist:

How much further can you take this, if the Premier keeps up what we saw in there today?

Will Hodgman:

I don’t think we should be deterred by a Premier who reads from a script. Nor indeed from one who has become so desperate and self-interested that he was literally inviting the Opposition to move no confidence in him and his Government. I mean, what a rabble of a Government we now have where the Premier of the days stands up and invites the Opposition to move no confidence in him. We will do our job in a diligent and considered way. It was an excruciating spectacle to see him stand up and try and claim black was white today, but that’s not a reason for us not to continue to do our job, expect him to answer questions, more information came to light today, so we will have more for him tomorrow and if he won’t answer them he will face the consequences.

Journalist:

How damaging do you think, the fact that he won’t tell us the full truth, how damaging do you think that shows the full truth is to the Premier?

Will Hodgman:

No doubt that the Premier is keeping information, the facts from the Tasmanian Parliament and by extension the public, and obviously because it exposes him for exercising poor judgement, it exposes him for putting matters into consideration that he perhaps should not have, it exposes him for then trying to dig himself out of a hole by misleading the Tasmanian public. On a number of fronts, David Bartlett has painted himself into a corner. And now it all very convenient for him to read from a script today, in relation to every question (bells rang)

Journalist:

Will you move a Motion of no confidence in the Premier as he has dared you to do, and why haven’t you done that already?

Will Hodgman:

Look it’s a very serious matter in moving a no confidence motion, it’s not something that should be done lightly. We exercise judgement and consider what information is before us before taking such a course, it’s appropriate for us to do so, we are essentially moving a motion that not only expresses no confidence in the Premier by extension the Government, but in this instance it goes very much to the integrity of one David Bartlett and that’s important and Tasmanians I believe would expect us to pursue every avenue, to ask every legitimate question that presents itself. There is more to come from what happened today in Parliament, we will not desist from doing that. To be blunt we are not to be driven by news cycles or indeed the Premier himself inviting us to move a motion of no confidence in his Government, which is the most extraordinary spectacle. I cannot believe, in fact I haven’t seen in the seven years I have been in Parliament, a Premier invite the Opposition and indeed the Greens also, to move a no confidence motion, it’s not for him to decide when that’s appropriate. What he should be doing is just answering our questions and then we can move forward.

Journalist:

He has repeatedly denied misleading Parliament, how strong do you think the case is that he has misled the House?

Will Hodgman:

I think there is a very clear case that David Bartlett has given two versions of what happened. He has not reconciled why it is he has given two versions about when he received advice and in classic Bartlett fashion he is using weasel words and semantics to dance around the truth. But Tasmanians won’t be surprised by that and nor will we. What concerned us was that we have the Premier of the day who is fixated on March of next year only, trying to see out time, wanting this to go away, inviting us to have it go away for him, well it’s not our job to do that. He needs to get on with the job of telling the truth as he promised to do and if he can’t then he will face the consequences. That may well be a no confidence motion.

Journalist:

This is the Premier who gave us the ten point plan to restore faith, is this one point plan to undo that work? He is undoing what he said himself, he is trying to restore faith in democracy. What does this do to that plan with the last ten days (inaudible)

Will Hodgman:

I don’t think the irony will be lost on anyone that David Bartlett who claimed he was going to restore trust and faith in Government is now responsible for dismantling it again. I don’t think the irony will be lost on anyone that just two weeks ago we were debating the establishment of an Integrity Commission in Tasmania and David Bartlett’s own integrity is now very much under the microscope. This is a Premier who made a big deal out of saying he was going to tell the truth at all times. He knew that the mess his Government had created and that his predecessor had left with him had damaged public confidence. Well I don’t see it improving. This Government is on the slide, this Government has run out of ideas, is stale. You only need to look at their performance in Parliament today, they didn’t want to be there, they gave no indication that they were prepared to defend the Premier when he was under attack, and they gave no indication at all that they are getting on with the job. This is a Government that’s fixated on its short-term political interests. They want to see out the rest of this Parliamentary week, they want this matter to go away as quickly as possible. Well it’s not our job to make that happen for them, it’s our job to make this Government accountable, but if we can’t keep David Bartlett on the straight and narrow, then we will look at the options that are available to us, and in the interests of doing our job properly, in a considered way, with all the information at our disposal, we will do it at a time that suits us, not David Bartlett or his media advisers.

Journalist:

How confident are you getting closer to the truth this week?

Will Hodgman:

I remain forever optimistic and hopeful that for whatever reason this Government , this tired stale Government that has had eleven years to get its act together will at the eleventh hour do the right thing. I see no sign of it today from David Bartlett, the fact that he read from a script and was not even able to answer specific questions, that went to matters of fact, shows that he has learnt nothing, he is like a mini version of his predecessor and this is the reason why we need an Anti-Corruption Authority in Tasmania. It’s this sought of nonsense that’s been going on year after year that led to the regrettable conclusion that Tasmania needs a body to stamp this thing out.

Journalist:

What do make of this line that because Darren Hine didn’t specifically advised against the appointment, somehow the information gives can be ignored?

Will Hodgman:

That was one of the more cringe worthy elements of what went on today, and I think it’s pretty ordinary form by the Premier to try and extrapolate that to some sought of suggestion to Mr Bartlett that there was nothing to be feared here. I mean it just doesn’t stack up, and I think it would be fair to conclude conversely that what was happening here, was that Mr Hine was presenting information to the Premier and leaving it for the Premier to decide what to do with that information. The fact that there was a prospect even a possibility of criminal charges being laid, would surely having anyone saying I should get a second opinion, I should take some advice and get to the bottom of it. The fact that he totally discarded information bought to him by the Police Commissioner, albeit Acting at the time, in such a fashion still hasn’t been explained.

Journalist:

Is he essentially saying that I shouldn’t have to think for myself, if someone (audible) is that what it is, is that what he is saying essentially?

Will Hodgman:

It shows what a weak Leader David Bartlett is that he’ll take advice he says in whatever fashion, without arriving at his own decision and without doing what is in any sense good judgement. David Bartlett had information at his disposal which by any reading should have been looked into before he ploughed ahead with this announcement. He didn’t need to rush it on, he didn’t need to ignore this advice without seeking further clarification. I just don’t think the Premier should be suggesting in one way, shape another that what Mr Hine said had no significance or indeed that Mr Hine was downplaying it. Good judgement, good sense a Premier who’s got a handle on what he is doing and is capable of showing strong leadership would have said I am just going to draw breathe, get some advice on this face, find out exactly what is going on before I move to the important job of appointing the State’s Police Commissioner.
Will Hodgman, Opposition Leader