The final moments of Dean Winter’s leadership were defined by a defiant, yet ultimately unsuccessful, push for power.
His media releases from 12 August through to 20 August (featured below) paint a picture of a leader confident in his moral stand, positioning himself as a man of integrity who would not compromise on his values for the sake of a backroom deal. He framed his opposition not just as a political contest but as a fight for workers and against what he termed a “dirty deal” between the Liberal and Green parties.
As the final parliamentary vote loomed, Winter’s rhetoric intensified, highlighting what he saw as a betrayal of progressive values by his opponents and a clear choice for a fresh start under his leadership.
However, the subsequent defeat of his no-confidence motion in Parliament on Tuesday 19 August 2025—and the refusal of the crossbench to support his bid for premiership—sealed his fate, leading to the leadership spill and his replacement by the new Labor Leader, Josh Willie.
Media release – Dean Winter MP, 16:58 20 August 2025
Statement from Dean Winter
I congratulate Josh Willie on being elected Leader of the Tasmanian Labor Party.
As Leader, I take full responsibility for our election result, and it is understandable that Labor has a new leader moving forward.
Leading the Labor Party has been the honour of my life.
While the election result didn’t go the way I wanted, I will forever be proud that Labor stopped the disastrous 2025-26 Barnett Budget from ever passing Parliament, and that the Rockliff privatisation agenda is now dead.
Some say that politics is the art of compromise, but compromise does not and should not mean capitulation. There is a line where you must stand up for what is right.
I will never resile from standing strong and true to my word, especially when it comes to Tasmanian workers and traditional industries, including salmon workers and the racing community I care deeply about.
My word is my bond. I knew if I sold out the workers, like Jeremy Rockliff has, I could have been Premier. I could never do that.
Those in the Parliament who preach the loudest about integrity and rebuilding trust don’t understand the meaning of the words.
I will continue to serve as a Labor Member for Franklin in Parliament, and to fight for those workers who the Premier has callously abandoned in his clutch for power.
Thank you to my colleagues, staff and the broader labour movement who have supported me every single day. Especially Anita Dow, who has been an incredible Deputy Leader for our party and for me.
Finally, I’d like to thank my beautiful wife Alli and our kids George and Harriet for their love and support over the campaign. I look forward to spending some much needed time with them over coming weeks.
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 17:30 19 August 2025
Rockliff’s dirty deal sells out Tasmanian workers
Jeremy Rockliff’s sell-out of Tasmanian workers has been made official with the coronation of a Liberal-Green Government.
Jeremy Rockliff has proven he will sell out any Tasmanian job to save his own.
Salmon, forestry, racing is just the tip of the iceberg. He sold out Tasmanians working in traditional industries to get Green support in a desperate bid to retain power.
He sold out 2,500 public sector workers by making Eric Abetz the Treasurer.
Who will he sell out next?
Unlike Jeremy Rockliff, Labor won’t abandon workers or make deals behind closed doors. While Jeremy Rockliff caved in to the Greens and compromised his values for power, I stood by workers and did not.
Not only has the Liberals’ decade-old Labor-Green scare campaign been put to bed, but the Liberals are now in bed with the Greens themselves.
Tasmanians have just witnessed the coronation of a Liberal-Green Government, and Tasmanian workers will never forget Jeremy Rockliff’s betrayal.
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 09:49 19 August 2025
MPs to choose – Do they have confidence in Jeremy Rockliff’s Liberals or not?
When Jeremy Rockliff visited the Governor earlier this month and requested to be recommissioned, Her Excellency said the Parliament should have the final say in who should be Premier.
No matter how the Greens try to spin it, voting to allow Jeremy Rockliff to continue as Premier is providing confidence in his government.
Voting against today’s motion will be providing confidence to the Liberals.
After campaigning for a change in government – and even voting no confidence in the Liberals earlier this year – it is incredible that the Greens and Independent Green, Kristie Johnston look set to prop up the Liberals for another term.
Jeremy Rockliff saved his own job by putting the jobs and livelihoods of racing participants and salmon workers on the chopping block.
Labor does not have confidence in Jeremy Rockliff. At the end of today, the record will show that we won’t have voted to support him.
Letter from Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 17:04 18 August 2025
Tomorrow, there is so much at stake. Don’t risk Abetz
It has been one month since Tasmanians elected a more progressive Parliament.
And Labor is committed to delivering a stable Parliament that gets things done – not just for the first few months, but for the whole four years.
A Labor government will be committed to delivering on our progressive policies – many of which we share with the progressive crossbench.
Make no mistake, tomorrow’s vote in the parliament has so much at stake.
The Parliament has a pivotal choice to make.
If a conservative Liberal Rockliff-Abetz government stays in power, it would mean that none of these progressive reforms are delivered:
- 10 free doctor clinics right across the state – the biggest intervention in primary health care since Medicare that will ensure the right of all Tasmanians to see a doctor for free is a reality.
- Nurse Practitioners in every regional hospital – to ensure access for Tasmanians to urgent health care no matter where you live.
- Guarantee an end to privatisation of public assets.
- 4 year fixed terms so we can end the cycle of unstable parliaments and focus on delivering real progressive reform.
- The most comprehensive investment in women’s health by any state government including free, specialised women’s and reproductive health clinics across Tasmania.
- An ICAC to clean up Tasmanian politics with broad powers and the resources it needs to do the job Tasmanians expect of it.
- A Treaty for First Nations Tasmanians – with the first discussions taking place in the first 6 months of the parliament.
- Spending caps for election campaigns to get the big money out of politics.
- Truth in political advertising laws to ensure fair and honest campaigns.
- Fairer renting laws to stop rent bidding, make bonds portable, close rent increase loopholes, allow small modifications, and allow pets.
- An independent Marine Planning Authority to properly manage our marine estate.
- A properly resourced and independent Environmental Protection Authority.
- A real ban on puppy farms to end prioritising profit over puppy welfare.
- A legislated Human Rights Act to ensure every Tasmanian has their basic rights protected.
- Raise age of Criminal Responsibility to 14 and end the delay to closing the Ashley Detention Centre to stop the traumatisation of children in the adult criminal justice system.
- A ban on conversion therapy practices to end the harm they cause LGBTIQ Tasmanians.
- Urgently provide redress payments to people who have had historical offences of homosexuality expunged,so we can resolve this stain on Tasmania’s history – it has gone on too long.
- Real consultation and a plan to fix our state budget without cuts that will hurt the vulnerable which is exactly what Eric Abetz will do.
- Restoring independence to the Public Service by restoring the role of the Public Service Commissioner.
- Needs-based public school funding, as intended under the Gonski funding model.
This is certainly not all that we can achieve. It’s the start of an ambitious agenda for real change. A progressive agenda to ensure everyone can see a doctor for free, to properly resource our public schools, to stamp out corruption, to deliver evidence based law reform, and to make Tasmania a fairer place to live.
Tomorrow, the Parliament has a clear choice and a progressive majority to deliver change.
The choice is business-as-usual with an 11-year-old conservative Liberal Rockliff-Abetz government, or a new and progressive Labor government.
It’s time for change. It’s time for a fresh start.
Dean Winter
Labor Leader
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 16:45 18 August 2025
The birth of a Liberal-Green alliance
Tasmania has witnessed the birth of a Liberal-Green Government.
The Liberals sold out traditional industries to get the support of the Green Independents. But they offered so much, they got the Greens as well.
It was a craven, desperate bid to retain power, and it worked.
Jeremy Rockliff has proven he will sell out any Tasmanian job to save his own.
The Greens had a choice to make. They have chosen to support the Liberals.
This means they are abandoning their progressive voters, and abandoning a host of progressive policies that will never be delivered if a conservative Liberal Rockliff-Abetz government stays power.
I said I would not do a deal with the Greens and I said I would not abandon workers. I kept true to my word while Jeremy Rockliff did a deal with the enemy of working people. This is a deal we will never let him get away with.
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 12:16 18 August 2025
The choice for the crossbench
Tasmanian Labor stands for jobs. Safe, secure, well-paid jobs. It’s a non-negotiable for myself, my team and our movement.
I said I won’t sell out my values, and I’ve kept my word. The same can’t be said for Jeremy Rockliff. He has broken his core commitments to regional Tasmania and to these workers.
But tomorrow’s Parliamentary sitting is fundamentally about trust. It is about whether the Parliament is led by Jeremy Rockliff – who will say and do anything to stay in power – or Labor who will provide a stable framework to work together and find compromises that work for all Tasmanians.
Labor is committed to real budget repair and will prioritise restoring trust and integrity in politics. Our appointment of Ruth Forrest to the position of Treasurer demonstrates our willingness to work with independents, and a deep commitment to repairing the Liberals budget mess.
A Labor Government can deliver on our progressive policies – many of which we share with the progressive crossbench.
Jeremy Rockliff will say anything, promise anything, and break his word on everything just to keep his job – that’s his track record.
Parliamentarians have everything they need to be able to make their decision. It’s about who who they can trust.
The Liberals have been in power for 11 years. They have driven Tasmania towards $13 billion in net debt and lied about it.
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 17:24 17 August 2025
Labor’s Framework for Collaboration: a new approach to politics for Tasmania
I’m not Jeremy Rockliff. I won’t try to buy the support of the crossbench by trading away my values and selling out industries.
Labor is offering Tasmania something historic: a genuine opportunity for this Parliament to do things differently.
Our Framework for Collaboration, developed in consultation with members of the crossbench, is a principled and ambitious plan to build a stable, honest, and lasting Parliament that delivers outcomes for Tasmanians. It’s not a backroom deal made to stay in power.
It commits to open, respectful collaboration. It delivers a real path to budget repair, and it prioritises restoring trust and integrity in government.
Labor’s framework is about changing the system, not just changing the Premier. It empowers all members of the Parliament to shape Tasmania’s future. It’s a historic opportunity to leave behind the spin, secrecy, lies and horse-trading of the past, and instead build a new way of governing built on trust, respect, and shared purpose.
I’ve been clear from the start – I won’t sell out Labor’s values to become Premier. I won’t do deals with the Greens, and I won’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.
That’s the difference between Jeremy Rockliff and me. I keep my word.
Horse-trading at the start doesn’t deliver stable or collaborative government, and it’s not going to fix the damage the Liberals have done after 11 years in power.
The choice is clear: more of the same old politics, or a fresh start for Tasmania.
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 15:05 12 August 2025
Fixing Tasmania’s budget
Fixing Tasmania’s budget will be the first priority of a Labor government should we secure the support of the crossbench next week.
That’s why today, alongside Ruth Forrest, I am announcing that the first meeting of Labor’s Budget Repair Roundtable will be held on Friday September 5 should we form government.
The Roundtable will include key representative stakeholders from unions, businesses and community, as well as Members of Parliament, with all attendees invited to share their views and suggestions for budget repair.
It will facilitate vital discussion about the size of the task, and the steps necessary to restore Tasmania’s financial health, and how reform is likely to impact those they represent.
The Roundtable is designed to ensure Tasmanians are fully informed of the dire situation of the budget, and to promote transparency, accountability and collaboration in the financial management of Tasmania’s finances.
Given the short timeframe within which development of a new 2025-26 Budget will be required, the Roundtable will focus on the development of longer-term fiscal reform for the 2026-27 Budget.
After 11 years of Liberal neglect, Tasmania’s budget is in dire straits.
We can’t afford to waste any time, and a Labor government with Ruth Forrest as Treasurer will roll our sleeves up and get to work right away.
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