The final 48 hours of any election campaign are supposed to be a marketplace of ideas.
However, an investigation by Tasmanian Times has uncovered a high-stakes digital media blitz by the Rockliff Liberal Government in the final 48 hours before the 2025 state election.
This strategic media “takeover” by the Premier’s Office raises profound questions about the use—and potential misuse—of public funds for political gain. Newly released documents and screenshots confirm that these takeovers occurred just one and two days before the election, following a campaign period that began with a no-confidence motion in Jeremy Rockliff. Right to Information (RTI) invoices show the total digital spend exceeded $52,000, including specific extensions signed off at the very moment the government was collapsing.
By purchasing every available ad slot, the Premier’s Office effectively barred any opposition voices or independent groups from reaching the platform’s audience during the critical last-minute voting window.
The revelations have sparked criticism from the state’s opposition and crossbench, who claim public funds were used to “drown out” political debate during the most critical window of the campaign.
The most troubling aspect of this digital siege is the timeline of authorisation. Records indicate that the Premier’s Office signed off on these contract extensions on 10 and 11 June—the exact moment the Premier had refused to resign following a no-confidence vote and was instead calling a snap election.
Labor Shadow Minister for Justice and Integrity Ella Haddad has questioned how a government in the middle of a political collapse could justify pouring tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars into advertising that looked and felt like campaign material. Tasmanians expect public money to fund essential services or clear government information, not to crowd out democratic debate at the very second an election begins.
Greens Acting Leader Vica Bayley also noted that the Premier’s Office initially purchased the deal to advertise the state budget. However, extending that deal after the budget was no longer a political reality suggests a deliberate attempt to use public resources for party-political campaign purposes.
TEC 100% share of Pulse 18 July 2025
This pattern of using public resources for political gain has reached even the institutions tasked with oversight, raising significant new concerns about the Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC).
On 18 July 2025, the day before the election, the TEC secured its own 100 per cent share-of-voice takeover on the same platform. Tasmanian Times has now written to the Electoral Commissioner seeking urgent clarification on their own spending habits.
We are questioning whether the TEC received the same 26 per cent government discount that favoured the Premier’s Office, and whether the Commission is aware of commercial arrangements where government rates might inadvertently benefit an incumbent party during an election period. The prominence of the TEC’s own “takeover” on the eve of the vote creates a troubling mirror to the Premier’s blitz, questioning the parity and transparency of all public funds moving into private media hands during the campaign.
When Tasmanian Times sought clarity on these decisions, the responses from the Premier’s Office were defensive. While officials have acknowledged the “unnecessarily complex” nature of the RTI Act and admitted to administrative “distractions” that delayed public disclosure, the focus has shifted toward legal and regulatory threats against this outlet. Tasmanian Times has been met with assertions of an Australian Press Council complaint and mentions of legal representation in an attempt to suppress these findings.
Despite these high-pressure tactics, we remain firm in our reporting.
This investigation is not about administrative errors; it is about a government that used the public purse to buy an exclusive platform at the expense of its rivals. The Tasmanian Electoral Commission may have cleared the Premier’s spend on a technicality, but the questions of integrity—and now the Commission’s own spending—remain wide open.
Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse presentation 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.
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