Tas election 2021: Peter Gutwein tops poll, claims Liberal victory

Tasmanian Liberal leader Peter Gutwein has claimed victory in today’s state election, and is confident of commanding a parliamentary majority.

ABC election analyst Antony Green projects the Liberal Party will win either 12 or 13 seats in state parliament.

Counting in the Hobart-dominated seat of Clark will determine whether the government will be returned with a majority of seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly.

[Tas election – full results embed] 

“While we have won this election convincingly, it appears increasingly likely that we will also govern in majority,” Mr Gutwein told supporters in the tally room.

“Whilst obviously there’s some counting to be done, it would be an absolute honour and a privilege to be given that opportunity by the Tasmanian people,” he said.

Mr Gutwein said the Government “must now build on” the success of Tasmania’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, saying making decisions during it were “among the hardest things I’ve had to do”.

“I have never been more positive about our state’s future than I am right now,” he said.

“And I have never been more certain that our state’s best days are still in front of us.”

Flanked by his wife Amanda and children Millie and Finn, Mr Gutwein received rapturous applause from Liberal Party supporters during his speech.

He promised to govern for all Tasmanians “regardless of who you are, regardless of where you live, regardless of your circumstance or background.”

“And once the count is completed we will get straight back to work and ensure that together we secure Tasmania’s future,” he said.

Labor ‘fallen short’

Earlier, Labor Leader Rebecca White conceded the election and said it was “clear tonight that we have fallen short of our goal to win majority government.”

“A short time ago, I rang Peter Gutwein to congratulate him on his re-election and his impressive personal result,” Ms White said.

“All around the country we’ve seen incumbents rewarded for their management of COVID-19 and there is no doubt that Peter Gutwein and our public health officials kept our community safe and tonight’s result reflects that.”

Ms White said the result was a strong result for the Liberal Party and Mr Gutwein’s leadership, but said it was important the Liberals listened to the issues raised during the campaign.

“I hope this campaign has been a wake-up call for the Liberals that Tasmanians will not tolerate business as usual from the Liberal government,” she said.

“Tasmanians will not tolerate surgery waiting lists that are the worst in the country, they will not tolerate ambulance response times that are the slowest in the country, and they will not tolerate Tasmanians dying in the emergency department because they can’t access the health care that they need.”

Ms White promised to keep fighting to “make Tasmania a better and a fairer place” and said she was proud of the campaign her party had run.

She did not say whether she would stay on as leader during her concession speech.