Jeremy Rockliff | |
---|---|
47th Premier of Tasmania Elections: 2024 | |
Assumed office 8 April 2022 | |
Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
Governor | Barbara Baker |
Deputy | Michael Ferguson Guy Barnett |
Preceded by | Peter Gutwein |
Deputy Premier of Tasmania | |
In office 31 March 2014 –8 April 2022 | |
Premier | Will Hodgman Peter Gutwein |
Preceded by | Bryan Green |
Succeeded by | Michael Ferguson |
Deputy Leader of the Tasmanian Liberal Party | |
In office 30 March 2006 –8 April 2022 | |
Leader | Will Hodgman Peter Gutwein |
Preceded by | Will Hodgman |
Succeeded by | Michael Ferguson |
Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Braddon | |
Assumed office 20 July 2002 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Jeremy Page Rockliff 5 February 1970 Devonport,Tasmania,Australia |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse | Sandra Knowles |
Children | Three daughters |
Residence | Sassafras,Tasmania |
Alma mater | Launceston Church Grammar School Lincoln University |
Occupation | Politician,farmer,company director |
Portfolio | Education and Training Primary Industries and Water |
Website | www |
Nickname | J-Rock [1] [2] |
Jeremy Page Rockliff (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian politician. He has served as premier of Tasmania since 2022,as state leader of the Liberal Party. He previously served as deputy premier from 2014 to 2022.
Rockliff was raised in Sassafras,Tasmania,and was a farmer before entering politics. He was first elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly at the 2002 state election,representing the division of Braddon. He was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party in 2006 and served as deputy premier from 2014 to 2022 in the governments of Will Hodgman and Peter Gutwein. Rockliff replaced Gutwein as premier in 2022. His party lost its parliamentary majority in 2023. He subsequently called an early election in 2024 and remained as premier in minority government after securing confidence and supply from minor parties and independents.
Rockliff was born on 5 February 1970 in Devonport,Tasmania. [3] He is the son of Richard "Rick" and Geraldine Rockliff,with his father's family having farmed at Sassafras since the 1850s. [4] His father,who died in 2023,farmed potatoes and opium poppies,working for Tasmanian Alkaloids. [5]
Rockliff grew up on his family's farm at Sassafras. In the early 1980s he and his siblings helped his father erect the Big Spud (also known as Kenny the Kennebec),a large pole-mounted sculpture of a potato considered one of Australia's "big things". The family used the sculpture as an advertising gimmick for its roadside potato stall on the Bass Highway. [6]
Rockliff attended Latrobe High School and Launceston Church Grammar School. He completed a diploma in farm management at Lincoln University in New Zealand,before returning to Sassafras to work on the family property. He was president of the Latrobe Football Club from 2006 to 2009. [7]
Rockliff joined the Young Liberal Movement in 1991,and the Liberal Party in 1992. He became MP for Braddon in the House of Assembly in 2002. He was immediately promoted to the front bench,serving as opposition whip from 2002 until March 2006. When Will Hodgman,who had also been first elected in 2002,was elected leader of The Tasmanian Liberal Party in March 2006,he named Rockliff as his deputy,and hence Deputy Leader of the Opposition. [8]
Rockliff became Deputy Premier of Tasmania in March 2014,following the Liberal Party winning government at the 2014 state election. He was also Minister for Education and Training,and Minister for Primary Industries and Water. [9] When Hodgman resigned as party leader and Premier in January 2020,Rockcliff did not stand in the subsequent Liberal Party leadership contest,which was won by Peter Gutwein unopposed on 20 January 2020. [10] As such,Rockliff remained as deputy party leader and Deputy Premier.
Along with being Deputy Premier,Rockliff continued to hold multiple portfolios as the Minister for Education and Training,Minister for Trade,Minister for Advanced Manufacturing and Defence Industries,Minister for Disability Services and Community Development,and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing. [11]
At a party-room meeting on the morning 8 April 2022,Rockliff was elected unopposed as the new leader of the Tasmanian Liberal Party,after Peter Gutwein had announced his resignation earlier that week. That afternoon he was sworn in by the Governor as the 47th Premier of Tasmania. [12] [13]
As Premier,Rockliff has continued the state government's negotiations with the Australian Football League in an attempt to gain a 19th team licence for Tasmania. Rockliff has championed a proposed $715 million [14] multi-use stadium to be built in Hobart's Macquarie Point as a part of this bid. For his steadfast support of a stadium he has faced criticism from the community and the opposition parties and cross-bench Members of Parliament as well as some in the federal Liberal Party. [15] On 12 May 2023,Lara Alexander,alongside fellow Tasmanian Liberal John Tucker state MP,left the Liberal Party to sit as independent Members of Parliament,in part due to concerns related to the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium project and lack of transparency. This leaves the Liberal party in minority government and requiring seven seats to reach a majority in the next state election. [16]
On 28 September 2023,attorney general Elise Archer resigned from cabinet after being asked to do so by Rockliff in response to allegations of bullying and subsequent leaks of information from the government against her. [17] In doing so she additionally resigned from the Liberal Party,leaving the government as a minority government with ten seats in the lower house. Archer subsequently resigned from parliament,following a statement from Rockliff that he would call an early election if she did not do so.
On 13 February 2024,Rockliff called a snap election after his demands of a permanent supply and confidence deal were denied by the now independent MPs Alexander and Tucker due to continued disagreements. [18] At the 2024 state election,the first since the expansion of the House of Assembly to 35 seats,the Liberal Party suffered a negative swing of 12 points but still finished with the largest share of the vote. Rockliff was still unable to form a majority government,with the Liberals winning 14 out of 35 seats in an increased overall Parliament. He subsequent reached confidence and supply agreements with the three Jacqui Lambie Network MPs and with independent MP David O'Byrne. [19] [20] The second Rockliff ministry was sworn in on 11 April 2024. [21]
Rockliff has been described as a moderate Liberal [22] however this is questioned by other commentators. [23]
Rockliff supported the Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the lead-up to the 2023 referendum,despite federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton's opposition. [24] [25] He stated that he would campaign "vigorously" for the Voice and joined several other state Liberal leaders in supporting the Voice and opposing Dutton's position. [26] Rockliff has also supported changing the date of Australia Day from 26 January. [27] [28]
Guy Barnett is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party and was appointed deputy premier of Tasmania in 2024. He has been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly since 2014 and has been a state government minister since 2016. He was previously a Senator for Tasmania from 2002 to 2011.
Michael Darrel Joseph Ferguson is an Australian politician who served as the Deputy Premier of Tasmania from April 2022 to October 2024. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the Division of Bass since the 2010 state election. Ferguson was appointed to cabinet after his party's victory in the 2014 state election and has served continuously as Minister in a range of portfolios including Finance,Health,Infrastructure,Transport,State Growth and Science and Technology.
The Tasmanian Government or the Government of Tasmania is the executive branch of the Australian state of Tasmania. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly,the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania,is invited by the governor of Tasmania to form the executive. The governor appoints the premier of Tasmania.
An election for the House of Assembly was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 18 March 2006,the same day as the South Australian elections. The Labor Party led by Premier Paul Lennon,won a third successive majority government term in office,despite predictions the election would result in a minority government. Although there was a small swing against Labor,they finished with 14 seats,and there were no changes in the party composition of the assembly. The Liberal Party led by Rene Hidding gained a small swing and finished with seven seats. The Tasmanian Greens led by Peg Putt suffered a small swing and finished with four seats;meaning no change in seat representation since the last election. Had the Greens lost one of their four seats,they would have lost their status as a major party and would lose financial resources,offices and support staff.
William Edward Felix Hodgman is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was the premier of Tasmania from 2014 to 2020 and state leader of the Liberal Party from 2006 to 2020. He later served as High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore from 2021 to 2023.
David John Bartlett is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania,serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison from 2004 to 2011 when he retired.
Peter Carl Gutwein is a former Australian politician who was the 46th premier of Tasmania from 2020 to 2022. He was a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 2002 to 2022,representing the electorate of Bass. He succeeded Will Hodgman as leader of the Liberal Party and Tasmanian Premier on 20 January 2020.
David O'Byrne is an Australian trade unionist and politician. A prominent union leader prior to entering politics and the brother of fellow politician Michelle O'Byrne,he has been an Independent member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly since 2024,after previously serving as a Labor Party member from 2018 to 2024,and from 2010 to 2014,representing the electorate of Franklin.
The 2010 Tasmanian state election was held on 20 March 2010 to elect members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The 12-year incumbent Labor government,led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett,won a fourth consecutive term against the Liberal opposition,led by Will Hodgman,after Labor formed a minority government with the support of the Greens.
Adam Richard Brooks is a former Liberal Party member for Braddon in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 2010 to 2019. He was an endorsed Liberal Party candidate for the 2021 state election in the division of Braddon,and was re-elected on 1 May,but resigned two weeks after the election following charges being laid against him by Queensland Police for alleged firearms and document offences.
Jacqueline Anne Petrusma is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 2010 to 2022,representing the electorate of Franklin,and served as a minister in the governments of Will Hodgman,Peter Gutwein and Jeremy Rockliff.
Susanne Lynnette Hickey is an Australian politician. She represented the electorate of Denison from the 2018 state election until her defeat at the 2021 election,sitting with the Liberal Party until March 2021,when she quit the party and became an independent. Hickey is currently Mayor of the City of Glenorchy.
The Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) is a political party in Australia,formed in May 2015,bearing the name of its founder,Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie.
The Tasmanian Liberal Party,officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division) and more simply as the Tasmanian Liberals,is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Tasmania. The party currently governs in Tasmania as the only Liberal government in Australia above the local level. The party is part of the federal Liberal Party of Australia,currently in opposition.
The 2021 Tasmanian state election was held on 1 May 2021 to elect all 25 members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly.
The 2024 Tasmanian state election was held on 23 March 2024 to elect all 35 members to the House of Assembly.
The Moderates,also known as Modern Liberals,Small-L Liberals or Liberal Left,are members,supporters,voters and a faction of the Australian Liberal Party who are typically economically,socially and environmentally liberal. The faction has been described as centre to centre-right.
The Second Gutwein Ministry is a former ministry of the Government of Tasmania,led by Peter Gutwein of the Tasmanian Liberals. It was formed on 19 May 2021,after the Liberal Party won the 2021 Tasmanian state election. The ministry dissolved on 8 April 2022,after Gutwein resigned from his premiership and quit politics,and was succeeded by the Rockliff ministry.
The First Rockliff ministry is the former ministry of the Tasmanian Government,led by Jeremy Rockliff of the Tasmanian Liberals. It was formed on 8 April 2022,after Rockliff was elected unopposed as leader of the Liberal Party and sworn as the state's 47th Premier by Governor Barbara Baker. The ministry replaced the Second Gutwein ministry,after former Premier Peter Gutwein resigned from his position and quit politics.
This is a list of electoral division results for the 2022 Australian federal election in the state of Tasmania.