Is your TARDIS in working order? We could have used it in attempting to cover this campaign.
This morning we received an invitation to cover the Liberal Party press conference … 9 minutes before it started. In Kingston.
That by the way is the first time in two weeks a Premier apparently scared of the media has fronted up anywhere near Hobart.
Previously we were given 33 minutes’ notice of a presser in Triabunna, and 39 minutes for one in Scottsdale.
In between we have disappeared from the alerts list for media calls for days at a time, weeks even. So has another Tasmanian independent outlet, Tasmanian Inquirer.
We have had to nag the Liberal Party Secretariat several times to be reinstated to the list. It appears their practice is now to invited ‘friendly’ media well in advance to ensure they are there, and invite the independent press with so little notice that we could not possibly attend.
The Liberals have been fond of saying ‘Let’s get on with the job’ in this campaign. We would like to get on with our job of covering it, but …
Maybe you think we’re nobodies, but how about the ABC? You know, that old thing, the most trusted broadcaster in the country. Nope:
There also appears to have been something of a city-country divide in campaign style. It has suited Jeremy Rockliff to tour the countryside: gladhanding bumpkins is comfortable ground for him. While he’s doing it he’s talking up the Green bogeyman and waffling vague things about insurance and ‘traditional industries’.
The “they’ll make you pay” of the Liberal campaign ads strikes an odd note. Well, with the state heading for $10B in debt, who else is going to pay if not Tasmanians? Last I heard Mongolia was not putting their hand up.
It’s typical of – ahem – a certain kind of chutzpah that the Liberals’ refusal to consider any new revenue raising measures, thus ensuring the debt problem will get steadily worse, is being sold as some kind of mark of sainthood and that serious budget repair if for green and red devils only.
Labor’s Dean Winter meanwhile has been busy in urban areas and fringes. After initially promising a few TassieDoc clinics, now they are popping up like autumn mushrooms and today there was even a mobile TassieDoc clinic promised. Labor claimed it won the debate, as did the Liberals, while neutral observers were generally neutral.
It’s all been a nice winter if not Winter blancmange of white fudge pudding blobbyness. And so unedifying that it does feel worthwhile to read Michael Stuckey’s piece on Tasmania failing as a state.
Campaigning
Labor and the rest have been guilty of dubious campaigning. Today we sent the following to the Labor Party:
We have observed an authorised Labor Party ‘TassieDoc’ flyer A5 in size on public light poles and other infrastructure around Hobart. A Liberal Party video shows young men affixing the flyers to poles and bus shelters in the city centre and Moonah, possibly filmed on Tuesday 15 July 2025. The flyers are self-adhesive and so have been clearly been designed for this purpose; flyers for letterboxing or general distribution would not need to be self-adhesive.
Questions:
1. Why is the Labor Party deliberately defacing public infrastructure?
2. Who made the decision to approve this?
3. What reparations will the Labor Party to the Hobart and Glenorchy councils to ensure that all are removed immediately?
4. What measures will the Labor Party put in place to ensure any future campaigns avoid defacing public property?
Not going to hold our breath waiting for an answer on that one. But there’s movement at the station, apparently.
Hobart Council has demanded the Labor Party take action over the illegally-affixed propaganda flyers which they say have cost ratepayers thousands of dollars to remove. In a formal letter to the party, Acting Chief Executive Officer Michael Reynolds claimed Labor-authorised adhesive-backed posters promoting ‘TassieDoc’ were unlawfully placed on council infrastructure across multiple Hobart suburbs.
The council said they deployed a three-person crew with traffic control vehicles to remove the stickers over four consecutive mornings, with cleanup efforts concentrated in the central, Sandy Bay and New Town areas, at a cost of $4000-$5000. The council said multiple poles, bins and bus stop infrastructure have been scratched or had paint lifted during removal efforts.
Reynolds described the use of public assets for political promotion as “entirely inappropriate” and has requested immediate action from the party, indicating advising it that the council may seek to recover costs from those responsible.
Meanwhile the Liberals have several campaign posters that are above the permitted size of 1.5m2 (as defined in the Signs Code). Despite being asked to remove them by various local government authorities, such as the City of Devonport and Southern Midlands Council, they have dragged their feet.
On Tasman Hwy, North Warrane. Image courtesy Shannon Wells.
In the end councils have no power to remove a non-permitted billboard from private land without going through a lengthy process. By the time they did, the election would be over. So councils grumble and write letters and the Liberals ignore them, as if that’s somehow okay.
Trailers are another matter and here the issue is usually with State Growth, who control major roads. Trailers are not permitted to be parked on highway roadsides, and all candidates are advised this in the candidate handbook sent to them by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission when they nominate.
Again, State Growth tends to write letters first and see what happens. It is only when no action is taken that they send someone to remove and impound trailers; this costs work time, however, and is sometimes outsourced, hence it is a last resort.
We have been informed that trailers featuring Peter George, Adam Martin, James Redgrave, Matthew Morgan, Tasmanian Nationals and Tasmanian Greens are among those that State Growth have requested be removed by the candidates who placed them.
More dodgyness is to be found in Wobblers World with both Nationals’ Miriam Beswick and independent Rebekah Pentland refusing to explain why they think it is appropriate to be waving signs around to distract drivers travelling at high speed (Bass Highway) and into congested city areas like the Launceston CBD during peak hour.
Here was the question: Given the following (below) from the Road Safety Council, why does Miriam Beswick / Rebekah Pentland and her campaign believe it is appropriate to distract drivers in motion along a carriageway at a busy time of day? We are seeking an on the record answer as to why your campaign is actively endangering Tasmanian road users. JUST IN: We also put the same question to Peter George, and his repsonse is here.
Distraction is one of the Fatal Five contributing factors to serious and fatal crashes, and even brief lapses in attention can have consequences. We encourage all road users, including those on the roadside, to consider how their actions might impact driver focus.
Wobble boarding, or waving signs to attract attention, is common during election periods and is also used by some businesses. While these efforts aim to increase visibility, any distraction—however momentary—can reduce a driver’s ability to respond to what’s happening on the road.
Even in lower-speed areas, staying focused is key. We remind all drivers to keep their attention on the road and avoid being drawn to activity on the roadside. If there are concerns about specific locations or practices, we encourage these to be raised with the relevant landowner or local authority.
Lastly can we say there could well be space for the Tasmanian Electoral Commission to have a stronger remit in managing the fairness of campaigning. To do this there would need to be changes to the Electoral Act as well as more resourcing.
If you are not in favour of fairer and more ethical campaigning then … why?
Themes and Style
But back to our main theme of campaign style and the what’s-it-all-about that might have actually propped up our failing will to live (in breathshot of the whiffy gob of Tasmanian politics).
Labor even abandoned their key red branding on a fake Spirit of Tasmania thingy that whined, at least justifiably, about the Big Stuff Up with the Devonport berthing arrangements.
Otherwise their campaign materials have been straight up boring with neither flair nor incisiveness. The campaign slogan of ‘a fresh start’ has in itself promise, but the execution has been wanting. A lot of Labor’s patter has been reheating of old promises and positions, copycatting of Liberal initiatives, and little else apart from TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc TassieDoc … yes they really did put out statements on that for 14 days in a row.
A genuine fresh start was never going to be possible. Had the previous parliament run to four years, Dean Winter could possibly have attempted to get some genuinely new positions into the policy platform. But after he brought the House down with his no confidence motion, what else was there to do but rehash?
The Labor slogan, which has its own website of “don’t give them 15”. This is puzzling as the Labor Party must be the only people on the island who think a Liberal government propped up by a likely bar-scene-from-Star-Wars crossbench is going to last four years. 15 months mebbe, just like last time.
The Greens have been in the same position. Caught short, Leader Rosalie Woodruff said something early on about it being a climate change election. Forgive me if I’m wrong but the parliament collapsed on the Budget-rejection motion, so it was and is a fiscal election through and through. To their credit the Greens have put out a costed plan for budget salvation. That hasn’t however appeared much in their campaign materials which predictably feature trees and happy people and hugs and might in fact be promoting a yoga retreat.
Just to prove they aren’t beyond a daft stunt, the Greens put out a statement this morning saying they had not invited but actually bought a plane ticket for AFL CEO Andrew Dillon to come to Hobart on polling day and talk to Tasmanians about the stadium. Uhh, guys … this is fruitcake laced with notes of stalker, undertones of coercive control, and mixed nuts.
Buuuut 16 minutes later they were back to talking about expanding the TWWHA and protecting ‘the sacred Southwest Sky Country’ – whatever this is? Maybe it’s the greenie equivalent of a pie in the sky stadium, but full of masked owls instead of bogans – and so on.
The Nationals were also caught on the hop. Having only just registered as a party in Tasmania in January, at the time the election was announced they had no candidates. They soon claimed ex-JLN Members Andrew Jenner and Mirim Beswick from lost baggage, but then what?
Jenner put out a statement bagging the Liberals over a Rockliff announcement on education, saying that “his government has condemned a generation of Tasmanians to poor literacy and numeracy through 11 years of inaction.”
We asked for the Nationals’ policy on education. Two days later, a media advisor sheepishly (Nationals, get it?) told us that “The policy hasn’t been finalised yet.” That was a week ago.
Furthermore there has been very little information put out on Nationals candidates, and they have been quite lax at replying to many of the surveys that lobby and interest groups toss around at election time. Their main media contact is generally unresponsive and they too have been either been avoiding the media or more likely too disorganised to cultivate a media presence.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers? Candidates they have, a campaign they do not. No theme, no advertising (that we have come across), not even a corflute spotted. This has been the case for a long time and one is tempted to why the party bothers to exist in Tasmania if it is not actually going to run campaigns. Even the website http://sffptas.org/ appears to be offline.
Amazingly, the Tasmanian Hospitality Association tipped them a $10,000 donation to their campaign fund. We asked Adrian Pickin, a senior party member and a candidate for Braddon, what the money was for? No answer.
The Animal Justice Party were at least honest in putting out a statement saying they weren’t ready and wouldn’t stand any candidates.
The independents have mostly run brave little campaigns, with little being the operative word. Sitting MHAs like Craig Garland, Kristie Johnston have had the incumbent benefit of paid staff to do both liaison with the community and background work. The rest of the ornery throng have to battle on with tiny budgets, little media coverage and often limited volunteer support. But we did our best to give them a platform in our guides to Bass, Braddon, Clark, Franklin and Lyons.
Over 40% of Tasmanians will have already voted by the time the statewide spread of polling booths opens on Saturday 19 July. Due to a lack of Electoral Commission resources and possibly the provisions of the Electoral Act, maybe only a two-thirds of the total vote will be counted on Saturday night.
Will Rockliff’s scare campaign work? Will Winter come in from the cold and be the next Premier? Will the Greens be in government again, or propping one up?
In the five hours of Saturday night tallying we will see the broad bones of the new parliament as it takes shape, with perhaps 4 or 5 seats in each of the divisions easy to call. But the Tassie devil is in the detail and those last few seats will determine both which party has the largest grouping as well as the extent of the crossbench.
Regardless of who you support, the reality is that that crossbench is going to be decisive in forming any kind of government.
Forget the boat, we’re going to need a bigger popcorn maker.
House of Assembly crossbench in waiting.
Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.
Support us in expanding our coverage and developing new content by and for Tasmanians.
New initiatives on the way include:
- a weekly podcast covering current affairs
- a revamped website
- a monthly cartoon competition
- a user-friendly app for both Android and Apple devices
- a weekly roundup of key stories
