Hodgman set to become Tasmanian premier

(AAP) - Tasmania's caretaker premier David Bartlett is to visit the governor on Wednesday and advise him to commission Liberal Leader Will Hodgman as the state's next premier.

The make-up of the next Tasmanian parliament will be a 10-10-5 split of Liberal,
Labor and the Greens, respectively.
Labor lost its majority, suffering a 12 per cent swing, at the March 20 election.
Mr Bartlett last Thursday said he would tell Governor Peter Underwood on Wednesday,
after the poll results were declared, that he could not form a stable minority
government, giving Liberal leader Will Hodgman the chance to assume power.
Mr Hodgman and Greens leader Nick McKim on the second last day of the previous
parliament, on November 18, joined together in a no-confidence motion against Mr
Bartlett which was defeated by the government's numbers.
Mr Bartlett said his rivals had not changed their position and he could not
confidently form a stable minority.
"They have already got together to knock me off as premier," he said last Thursday.
Mr Hodgman says he expects to be commissioned as the next premier later this week,
after Mr Bartlett visits the governor on Wednesday.
He says it will be up to Labor and the Greens to guarantee supply and not join in a
no confidence motion against him.
Mr McKim on Tuesday wrote to both leaders saying that a negotiated arrangement
between at least two of the three political parties would provide the best framework
for stable government.
"We all need to accept the responsibility that the Tasmanian people have placed on
us to work constructively, and with this in mind I confirm my availability to meet
with you at any time, so that negotiations which are so crucial to Tasmania's future
can commence," he said in the letter.
Mr McKim said Mr Bartlett's reasoning regarding the November 18 confidence motion
was "irrelevant to the issue of our confidence in any future government in the new
parliament".
Mr Bartlett's strategic decision last Thursday to yield power leaves the Liberals
and the Greens as unlikely bedfellows for stable government.
Labor strategists are willing to gamble that this precarious Liberal minority
government won't last long.
A short term in opposition after 12 years in government may be the best option for
Labor to regain power with an early return to the polls for Tasmanians, who do not
have fixed four-year terms.
Mr Bartlett is making no promises to support Mr Hodgman's government, and both
leaders refuse to make a deal with the Greens.
Mr McKim has given no sign of offering his support to either major party in the
absence of a negotiated agreement.
Mr Hodgman wants to recall parliament before the end of next month, while Mr
Bartlett says it should be recalled as soon as possible.
It remains to be seen if Mr Underwood accepts Mr Bartlett's suggestion to commission
Mr Hodgman as premier without any sort of negotiated agreement between him and the
Greens.