Jeremy Rockliff has been reappointed Premier of Tasmania…at least until the Tasmanian Parliament sits again.
Governor of Tasmania Barbara Baker made the announcement today, referring to convention and noting that confidence should be tested in the House of Assembly. The full statement is reproduced below.
Media release – Government House, Tasmania, 6 August 2025
Reappointment of Premier Jeremy Rockliff
Following the return of the writs for the recent House of Assembly election, this morning Her Excellency the Honourable Barbara Baker AC, Governor of Tasmania, received the Premier, the Honourable Jeremy Rockliff MP, at Government House.
Mr Rockliff advised Her Excellency that he should be reappointed as Premier, and that he expected to be able to gain the confidence of the House of Assembly.
Her Excellency determined that she would reappoint the Premier and provided the following reasons for her decision.
“The appointment of the Premier, whilst a reserve power, is restricted by constitutional convention,” Her Excellency said.
“In a hung parliament, where no one clearly holds the confidence of the majority of the House of Assembly, the incumbent has the right to remain in office in order to test the numbers in the House of Assembly and for Parliament to have the final say in who should be Premier.
“I consider the convention of incumbency applies in the current circumstances. I shall reappoint the Premier.
“It is better for confidence to be determined inside and not outside the Parliament. This will be done promptly, as the Premier will face the Parliament when it is recalled on Tuesday 19 August 2025.”
Mr Rockliff and his cabinet will be sworn in at a ceremony at Government House early next week.
Her Excellency will issue a Proclamation to fix the date of the next session of Parliament as Tuesday 19 August 2025.
Detailed reasons for Her Excellency’s decision will be published on the Government House website later today.
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 6 August 2025
Tasmania’s Premier needs the confidence of the house
I welcome the Governor’s statement today.
While Jeremy Rockliff has been recommissioned as Premier, he has failed to do the work to demonstrate he has the confidence of the house.
In order for this Parliament to be stable, it must start with a demonstration of confidence in the government. I can assure Tasmanians that any vote will not result in another election.
The Premier is not determined by any one person. The Premier should, and will be decided by a vote in parliament.
The crossbench knows how Jeremy Rockliff will operate, because they have seen it before. They saw it in the last Parliament. They saw it in the election when he and his members attacked and belittled independents. And they saw it through the sham Marinus consultation last week. He will not change. He cannot change. We will just get the same result.
In fact, not one crossbencher has publicly indicated they will be willing to support him.
Under the Liberals, there has been three early elections in a row. Unless there’s a change in approach, Tasmania will see the same outcome again.
That’s why Labor is committed to continuing discussions with the Independent Members of Parliament to discuss how we build a new approach to the parliament that is respectful and collaborative and provides stability for the full term.
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