Premier misses golden opportunity to stand up for Tasmania

• Will Hodgman misses chance to raise crucial issues with the PM
• Premier goes missing when faced with bad news
• Questions remain over Hidding bullying scandal

Tasmania’s hands-off Premier Will Hodgman has gone missing in action.

Extraordinarily, when the Prime Minister was in town yesterday the Premier was nowhere to be seen.

“At a time when Tasmania faces a multitude of threats from Canberra, including education cuts, funding for the Mersey, the backpacker tax and the GST, it is extraordinary that the Premier missed a crucial opportunity to lobby the PM face-to-face,” Labor Leader Bryan Green said.

“The Premier even unsuccessfully wrote to the Prime Minister asking for a better deal for Tasmania. You’d think he would jump at the chance to meet with the PM.

“Maybe Malcolm Turnbull didn’t want to be seen with Will Hodgman after he gave the kiss of death to the three amigos in full page newspaper advertisements on the eve of the Federal election.

“Or perhaps the Premier didn’t want to face questions about his complete lack of action over the Rene Hidding bullying scandal.

“It doesn’t matter what the issue is, when Tasmania needs leadership Will Hodgman goes missing.

“The Premier still hasn’t clarified if the Solicitor General cleared Rene Hidding or whether it was a captain’s call?

“We’ve seen a senior Minister blatantly breach the Code of Conduct and the Premier has done nothing in response.

“It’s another example of how weak Will Hodgman is when faced with bad news.

“If the Premier has misrepresented the Solicitor General and the head of his department, he must come clean immediately.”

Bryan Green MP Labor Leader