Tas Libs claim power in hung parliament

Tasmanian Liberal leader Will Hodgman has laid claim to being the premier of the
state's hung parliament after Labor suffered a general 12 per cent swing against it
in Saturday's poll.
The uncertain result from the poll is 10-10-5 split of Liberal, Labor and Greens in
the 25-member assembly.
Premier David Bartlett had said that whichever party finishes without a majority but
with the most seats should first be allowed to try to form a government on the floor
of parliament.
In the event of a tie between Labor and Liberal, Mr Bartlett said the overall number
of votes each party gains across the state would decide the dominant minority.
Mr Hodgman said on Saturday night he expected to be allowed to form the next
government of Tasmania after a general 7 per cent swing to his party.
"It is clear that the Liberal party has the strongest number of votes and if that
remains the case then I expect we would be given the opportunity, the privilege and
the honour of governing this state," he told the tallyroom in Hobart.
The Greens are effectively the election winners, recording their greatest level of
support of any Australian election.
They are set to capitalise on a general 5 per cent swing to them, cementing their
hold on the balance of power.
Greens leader Nick McKim said his party stands ready to work cooperatively with
either party.
"Our hand remains extended to the Labor and Liberal parties and it will remain
extended. The ball is now in their court," he told the tallyroom.
The party is poised to gain one seat, in the northwest seat of Braddon, taking them
to five MPs.
The Greens new MP in Braddon would be Paul O'Halloran, an educator who teaches
primary industries studies in Burnie.
"Clearly there was a mood for change in terms of governance and particularly in
Braddon, the record of Labor, particularly the last four years, has started to
impact on the Labor vote," he said.
Two deputy premiers from the former Labor heartland of Braddon, Bryan Green and
Steve Kons, were both forced to resign from the front bench amid separate scandals
during the life of the last parliament.
Mr Green will be returned in Braddon after polling the highest primary vote there.
Mr Bartlett gave a concession-type speech in which he congratulated Mr Hodgman and
Nick McKim.
The man who was premier for 22 months after taking over from Paul Lennon accepted
responsibility for Labor's loss of majority power and apologised for it.
But he stopped short of conceding the result, hanging on to the hope that Labor may
finish with more seats than the Liberals, as the state faces weeks of recounts and
ongoing uncertainty.
"No matter what Will, Nick and I agree or disagree on, I am convinced that they like
me they are motivated by doing their bit for Tasmania and seeing the lives of
Tasmanians improve," he told the tallyroom.
"The electorate has sent Labor a message and I take responsibility to listen today
and to continue to listen into the future."