The Guardian 22 March, 2006
Tasmanian Labor wins
Jules Andrews
The Lennon Labor Government has strengthened its position in the Tasmanian Parliament after what has been labelled as a "fear and smear" campaign.
With a 2.3 percent swing away from them, they re-entered Parliament with all their seats and have taken one seat from the Greens. The Liberal Party, with a four percent gain in primary votes held steady.
Premier Paul Lennon stated that one of his Government’s first priorities for the coming term will be furthering the cause of reconciliation with the state’s Aboriginal people.
This was greeted enthusiastically by Tasmanian Aboriginal representatives. "To specifically mention the need for Tasmania to embrace Aboriginal people, by dealing with the Stolen Generations and encouraging Aboriginal people to be accepted within Tasmania, I think, shows some leadership that has been lacking up until the 1990s," said Michael Mansell.
"A broader social policy that encourages rather than an indifferent approach to Aboriginal people is something that we’re not seeing anywhere else in the country and I think that Paul Lennon’s approach is a real lesson for the Prime Minister and the other Premiers around Australia."
The Tasmanian Greens were upbeat despite what they termed as a "fear and smear" campaign.
The Greens vote had dropped to 16 percent in the election, down from a high of 22 percent in polls just four weeks ago.
"Despite coming into the poll looking like we could gain more seats, we just couldn’t come back over the top of the negative fear and smear campaign that was run against us from so many quarters", Greens leader Peg Putt said.
"We have had the might of big business, unions, Labor and Liberal and more, all directed against us."
"The scandals around the shadowy front group Tasmanians for a Better Future, the Premier’s dirt unit, and the covert anti-Greens campaign of the Exclusive Brethren have highlighted attempts to manipulate democracy with huge amounts of money and spurious claims.’’
Ms Putt has called for better disclosure laws to ensure transparency.
Final results will not be known until later this week.