Labor and Liberals must prioritise restoring MP numbers

The Tasmanian Greens today called for the matter of restoring the House of Assembly numbers to 35 to be prioritised, and urged both Labor and Liberal parties to return to the Leaders Agreement signed in September last year.

Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that the recent admission by ex-Labor Minister David Llewellyn that the 1998 cut in numbers was the result of ‘conspiring’ between the Labor and Liberal parties to alter the system to reduce the election chances of third parties, places the responsibility squarely on both parties to fix this wrong.

Mr McKim also pointed out that the Agreement to which the three parties signed up to last year, also stipulated that the restored numbers would come into effect at the next state election and therefore not financially impact on the State Budget for the next three years.

“David Llewellyn admitted last week that the cut in MP numbers was the result of ‘conspiring’ between the Labor and Liberal parties in an attempt to keep the Parliament to themselves, and he went on further to say ‘… I think that was wrong. I’ll admit it was wrong. And I think we really should do something about that’,” Mr McKim said. [1]

“It is now incumbent on both the Labor and Liberal parties to fix this wrong for which they are responsible, on behalf of Tasmanians whose democratic system was so blatantly distorted due to base political motivation.”

“If Liberal Leader, Mr Will Hodgman, was genuine about government stability and productivity, he’d move to restore robustness, depth of talent and capacity by recommitting to restoring the numbers.”

“Mr Hodgman’s failure to do so reveals the fact his priority is just to exploit the current situation and turn his back on his responsibility.”

Reference:
[1] Mr David Llewellyn, ABC Radio Mornings Show, Friday the 13th May 2011.
On Tasmanian Times: HERE.
Ben Quin: Integrity Commission should investigate LibLab conspiracy

• The No-Confidence Motion

STABILITY NEEDED TO MEET BUDGET CHALLENGES AHEAD
Liberals out of Touch

Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader

The Tasmanian Greens today said it is utterly irresponsible for any political Party to move for an early election barely a month out from the delivery of the State Budget, saying it would damage community and business confidence.

Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that just because the Liberal party want to bail and go to an early election, the Greens intend to stand by their commitment to the Tasmanian people to provide stability and good governance, especially to meet the tough financial challenges ahead.

“The Liberals’ call for a disruptive early election says to the community that they think the job ahead is too hard, and they want to bail. In contrast the Greens are determined to roll up our sleeves, muck in and follow the job through,” Mr McKim said.

“Stakeholders, including business representatives, are not calling for an early and disruptive election, instead they are demanding that their political representatives get on with the job ahead. The Liberals have exposed themselves as out of touch with even their own stakeholders.”

“We do not shirk from the responsibility of making a power-sharing Parliament work, and to work for the best interests of Tasmania, not the best interests of any particular political Party.”

“The Liberal leader failed to answer why anyone in the community should have confidence in the Liberal party to meet the challenges facing Tasmania, given that when faced with the challenge of forming government last year Mr Hodgman baulked.”

“He also failed to prosecute any argument how an election barely a month out from the delivery of the State budget would benefit stable government on behalf of Tasmanians, or business confidence.”

“Mr Hodgman is well aware of the Greens commitment made last year that we would not move or support a no confidence motion in the government unless in the case of gross malfeasance or corruption, yet he failed to prosecute a case that would meet either of those preconditions, which exposes that this move was nothing but a cynical time wasting manoeuvre.”

“The Greens intend to continue to focus on delivering progressive policy outcomes for Tasmanians as well as provide stability and certainty for all sectors of the community, including the business sector.”

“Lets stop with the cheap populist games, the deliberate time-wasting and instead get on with the job of meeting the challenges ahead to place Tasmania on a sustainable footing,” Mr McKim said.