Australia's island state Tasmania headed for minority government after poll

24/3/2024 11:55

        Australia's Tasmania appeared to be headed for a minority government on Sunday as vote counting continued after a lack of a clear winner from an election in the southern island state.
        
        The conservative Liberal government, led by Premier Jeremy Rockliff, was on track to win the most seats in the new parliament but likely fall short of a majority after Saturday's election, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
        
        The election was sparked after defections from Rockliff's party plunged the only Liberal government among Australia's six states and two self-governing territories into minority.
        
        Rockliff told reporters that voters had given the Liberals "a mandate to form a new government".
        
        "We've won the most seats and indeed the most votes and so the Tasmanian people have not voted to change the government," he said in the state capital, Hobart.
        
        Opposition centre-left Labor leader Rebecca White has not conceded defeat said late on Saturday it would likely be a "long few weeks until we know the exact makeup of the next parliament".