Cassy O’Connor MP - On tomorrow to move -
That this House has no confidence in the Premier on the following grounds:
(1) The Premier allowed gambling interests from Tasmania and interstate to bankroll the Liberals' election campaign with unknown millions of dollars in dark, undisclosed money in cash and in-kind donations;
(2) The Premier allowed Tasmanians to go to the polls on 3 March, not knowing which vested interest gave how much money to secure a Liberal win;
(3) The Premier secured the support of the gambling industry due to a change of Liberal policy on poker machines that would deliver the industry an estimated $250 million windfall;
(4) The direct licensing of venues model, post the expiry of the Federal Monopoly Deed, was the position Federal Group and the Tasmanian Hospitality Association presented to the Joint Select Committee on Future Gaming Markets;
(5) The Premier and the Liberals subsequently backflipped on their original policy position on the future of poker machines which was for a price based market mechanism;
(6) Once the industry's and the Liberals' policy aligned, the millions started flowing in to the Liberal campaign, corrupting Tasmania's democracy;
(7) Following the election, it emerged the Liberals would gift the Tasmanian Hospitality Association $6.8 million in taxpayer funding over the next four years, raising the question of a quid pro quo;
(8) Premier Hodgman and the Liberals put the future profits of the multi billion dollar gambling industry and their own political self interest ahead of the interests of the Tasmanian people; and
(9) On this basis, the House has no confidence in a government that was bought and paid for by the gambling industry.