No clear winner for contentious Tasmanian elections, cross bench hangs on the balance

ABC NEWS (Australia)

There's been no clear winners in the Tasmanian election. Neither the liberals nor Labor have won enough seats to form a majority government. While Labor has had the worst performance in its history it could still form government if the liberals are unable to win the support of a progressive cross bench.

Transcript

00:00Despite the Liberals winning the most seats,

00:07Tasmania's early election has ended without a clear winner.

00:13But I intend to visit the Governor and ask her to recommission my government

00:18so we can get on with the job for Tasmania.

00:22Labour's not conceding defeat.

00:31The Liberals will have the most seats but it is uncertain as to how they will achieve a majority.

00:38Counting is continuing but so far the make-up is nearly the same as the last election.

00:44The Liberals have won 14 seats,

00:46Labor 9, The Greens 5 and Independence 4.

00:50There are three seats in doubt.

00:5218 seats are needed for a majority in the 35 member House of Assembly.

00:58This is the worst Labor Party vote in Tasmania ever.

01:01Labor triggered the early election with a no-confidence motion in Premier Jeremy Rockliffe.

01:07Tasmanians didn't want to go to the polls and I guess at the end of the day

01:10a significant number of Tasmanians blamed Labor.

01:14The Liberals have begun talks with independence.

01:18I'm looking forward to working with the crossbench, whoever is elected.

01:24But if the Liberals can't win the support of mostly progressive independence,

01:29Labor's hoping it can.

01:31We've opened a line of discussion with the crossbench

01:35and we'll make sure that they understand where we stand.

01:38But we're not going to be horse trading on policy.

01:40A proposed AFL stadium at Macquarie Point could be a sticking point.

01:44Both major parties support it, but some independents and the Greens don't.

01:50Absolutely on the stadium.

01:52That is going to be the top line issue.

01:54The stadium investing money in health and housing and protecting the environment.

01:57With postal and pre-poll votes still being counted,

02:01it could be two weeks before a final result is known.

02:05In that time, the leaders of both major parties will be holding crucial talks

02:10with members of the crossbench to find common ground

02:14and the support needed to form a government.

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