Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings names March 15 election date, ditches Greens

Updated

Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings has ended months of speculation and called a state election for March 15.

Ms Giddings also confirmed she has sacked the two Greens ministers from cabinet, effective from tomorrow, and allocated their portfolios to Labor MPs.

While the Premier has named a poll date, she has not dissolved Parliament.

Parliament will be recalled on January 28 to remove legal threats around the former Gunns pulp mill project, which is up for sale.

The vast majority of people have said to me, 'Lara, you've got to get rid of the Greens'. Premier, Lara Giddings

Ms Giddings has also ruled out governing with the Greens and says it is the logical time to formally end the alliance.

But she has not ruled out trying to govern in minority.

"If the people of Tasmania choose to vote in a minority parliament again, Labor is prepared to take on responsible government but we will not have Greens in cabinet," she said.

The Greens have held ministries since 2010 when the minority Government was formed.

It was an unlikely alliance which was not expected to last.

Ms Giddings thanked Greens leader Nick McKim and Cassy O'Connor for working with her Government, but said Labor wanted to govern in its own right.

She says she is proud of the achievements in portfolios which were held by the Greens, but the electorate has told her the arrangement should end.

"The vast majority of people have said to me, 'Lara, you've got to get rid of the Greens'," she said.

"We have come to a logical end to this arrangement, and it's absolutely important that we focus on the future.

"We have an enemy before us called the Liberal Party. We have an enemy before us called Tony Abbott."

The Premier says most Tasmanians support the pulp mill but she was not prepared to introduce pulp mill legislation until there were prospective buyers.

She is not worried about losing votes to the Greens because of Labor's support for the mill.

Receivers of the failed timber company Gunns are selling the mill's permits, design and site. They expect final bids to be lodged at the end of March.

The Premier's announcement means promotions for Upper House MP Craig Farrell, who takes on the corrections portfolio, and Rebecca White, who will become the human services minister.

Attorney-General Brian Wightman will take on education, while the Premier will assume responsibility for climate change, Aboriginal affairs and community development.

South Australians are also due to go to the polls on March 15.

Dumped Greens MPs say 'no hard feelings'

The Greens Ministers say they have no hard feelings about the end of the alliance but have declared they will not be the last Greens in cabinet.

Mr McKim says it was a privilege to serve as a minister and he is proud of the outcomes he delivered.

But he says the Labor and Liberal parties are now focussing on politics and not Tasmanians.

Ms O'Connor says the Greens promised stable government and they delivered it.

She thanked her cabinet colleagues, particularly Lara Giddings and Deputy Premier Bryan Green.

"No hard feelings guys, I know politics is a bruising business and I know you've done what you think is best for your party," she said.

Hodgman vows to run positive campaign

Opposition Leader Will Hodgman says his party will run a positive campaign.

He says 100 policies have already been announced and fully costed and there will be more to come.

Mr Hodgman says the Premier cannot airbrush what has happened in Tasmania in the past four years and Tasmanians "will not be fooled" by Labor splitting from the Greens.

"We're a party that has a plan...we are a party that Tasmanians can trust," he said.

He says if the Premier was serious about supporting the pulp mill she would have introduced legislation last year.

The Premier's promise to recall Parliament means the Palmer United Party (PUP) is likely to achieve its registration on time.

The party has written to the Electoral Commission to be recognised in Tasmania, although that is subject to a challenge by former PUP candidate Marti Zucco.

Mr Palmer told reporters in Hobart the party was likely to be registered within 10 days.

The government will not go into caretaker mode until Lara Giddings visits the Governor to formally dissolve Parliament on February 12.

The writs will be issued seven days later.

Topics: states-and-territories, elections, tas, hobart-7000, launceston-7250

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