Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson had held some of the more important roles in cabinet over his time as a government minister since 2014.
The first of these was the health portfolio, which he held for five years before he was removed from it in 2019 amid a cabinet reshuffle.
This was a move that was celebrated by health professionals at the time who were keen for a fresh start.
The second of these was the infrastructure portfolio, to which he was appointed five years ago.
He resigned from this position in August following the mismanagement of a port infrastructure project designed to accommodate the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels at East Devonport.
Mr Ferguson faced a fight in parliament to keep his position as Tasmanian treasurer and Deputy Premier, before he announced his resignation from these roles, and other ministerial roles, late on Monday.
The numbers were against him with 18 votes likely to support a motion of no confidence.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff had said earlier in the day that should the motion pass, Mr Ferguson would resign from cabinet and take a seat on the backbench.
Mr Ferguson, on announcing his resignation from cabinet, described the scenario as "the brutal mathematics of politics".
"In those circumstances, with nobody asking me to, I've offered my resignation to the Premier and to the Governor," he said.
The Liberals will need to be careful about who is next appointed to the deputy leadership.
So who will fill the empty space?
GUY BARNETT AND ROGER JAENSCH
Mr Barnett, with Mr Ferguson, was elected to the lower house following the 2010 election as part of the Liberal opposition.
Like his Northern counterpart, Mr Barnett has held a number of senior positions in cabinet, notably now serving as the Health Minister and in what is considered to be the second most powerful position in government, Attorney-General.
He held the position as the state's Energy Minister, which like the portfolios he holds now, had been subject to its own controversies.
The Liberals' party room appears to be finely balanced between the conservatives and the moderates, which means he would be seen as a good option to balance out the leadership.
Roger Jaensch was elected to parliament as part of the Liberal government in 2014.
In his second term, he was rewarded with a seat in cabinet, taking on the problematic human services and housing portfolios.
He was accused of misleading parliament in 2021 when he claimed to be unaware of changes to tenancy laws, which was contradicted in a ministerial minute produced by former Greens leader Cassy O'Connor.
Mr Jaensch denied he had misled parliament when answering questions about tenancy laws, and survived a no-confidence motion that was moved against him.
In 2022, he was sworn in as Minister for Education, Children and Youth, Skills, Training and Workforce Growth, State Growth, Environment, and Aboriginal Affairs.
Since the expanded parliament, his workload has been somewhat reduced.
His wide-ranging experiences in previous portfolios might make his a strong contender for the Treasurer position.
Like Mr Barnett, he too could be a consideration for the deputy leadership of the Liberal party.
However, like Premier Jeremy Rockliff, the member for Braddon is a moderate, so having Mr Barnett in the role might assuage the right wing of the party.
There are 11 members of the government's ministry, including two members of the Legislative Council.
If Mr Ferguson was to forfeit his position, it would leave a seat open to a member of the backbench.
Jacquie Petrusma has held several portfolios in the past before she resigned those positions for health reasons.
She later resigned from parliament for other reasons, but successfully stood for election this year.
Simon Behrakis is known to be an ambitious contender for a junior ministerial role, having served as a ministerial adviser before his entry into parliament after a number of attempts.
/////////
Watch this space! The folly that claims government is revealing its weaknesses as it stumbles from one crisis to the next and the stumbles are getting closer together. Has anyone imagined an election before Christmas!? There are fools in charge of paradise ... SADLY!!
///////
Revealed: Supreme Court backlog crisis, Barnett accused of inaction
By Nick Clark
Updated October 15 2024 - 8:56am, first published September 16 2024 - 2:30pm
Attorney-General and Justice Minister Guy Barnett.
The Labor Opposition has been informed that the Supreme Court of Tasmania's backlog has exploded to 885 cases.
The 20 per cent rise follows a record backlog of 743 cases recorded to June 30, 2023. This compares with 381 cases in 2016-17. In 2021-22, the court finalised 455 cases for the whole year.
The backlog equates to two full years of cases without any new cases being listed.
Bass Labor MP Janie Finlay sought an answer on the backlog from Attorney-General and Justice Minister Guy Barnett through a parliamentary process. The backlog has grown from 382 in 2016.
On Monday, more than 420 people appeared in the Supreme Court in Launceston Hobart and Burnie and had their matters adjourned.
In August, The Examiner published a letter from a complainant who wrote of the cruelty of waiting years for her abuser to go on trial.
In his 2019-20 annual report, Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC summarised the threat to justice posed by the criminal backlog.
"It should be remembered in respect to every case that is awaiting determination there are victims, witnesses, and accused in a highly stressful situation," he said.
"One of the consequences of cases being delayed is that witnesses become fatigued and unavailable or their memories fade."
The Department of Justice refused the Examiner's request for active disclosure in July 2024 and a Right to Information request for assessed disclosure in August 2024.
Labor member for Bass Janie Finlay in parliament.
Picture by Phillip Biggs.
Ms Finlay said the current timeframes were completely unreasonable.
"Prolonging the stress and turmoil experienced by those awaiting the delivery of justice is unacceptable," she said.
"This situation has been allowed to develop under the Liberal Government's watch, who have failed to act and failed to address the problem.
Ms Finlay said Chief Justice Alan Blow had described the backlog problem as the court's "greatest challenge".
"This data is further evidence that the Liberal minority government has failed to reduce the unacceptable backlog in Tasmania's court system, delaying justice for Tasmanians," she said.
"It should be noted that while these numbers are seriously alarming, each individual case represents an incredibly significant event in the lives of those affected, which has yet to be resolved."
"It is important that the retirement of Chief Justice Blow does not further compound the backlog problem.
"The State Government must do everything it possibly can to support the Court's efforts to reduce the backlog and must continue to explore ways of alleviating the pressure our justice system is currently under."
The Supreme Court has seven judges, but Justice Gregory Geason is on indefinite leave.
New Law Society of Tasmania president Will Justo said the backlog was a big issue.
"We are one judge down but even if there were infinite number of judges and infinite courts we do not have infinite number of lawyers," Mr Justo said.
"There is a chronic shortage of lawyers and that is in both prosecution and defence."
Mr Justo said criminal lawyers were not paid much, and many chose to work in more lucrative areas.
"There is a funding issue there, and Legal Aid is constrained by its funding," he said.
Mr Justo said there was a broad range of issues, but the major one was a shortage of lawyers because many graduate lawyers were being taken into the public service or to in-house jobs.
The Supreme Court backlog has been boosted by the relatively new charge of strangulation in which 139 people have been charged with 180 charges of strangulation.
In August, Mr Barnett told the Examiner that the reasons for the backlog were significant and complex.
Figures from the Report on Government Services 2022-2023 showed that Tasmania had the highest percentage of criminal cases older than 12 months old. The state's 40 per cent compares with NSW (25 per cent), Victoria (30 per cent) and Queensland (20 per cent) WA (17 per cent), SA (23 per cent), ACT and NT (30 per cent).
Tasmania has the lowest number (47 per cent) of criminal cases finalised in 12 months or less and compares with Qld (86 per cent), SA (80 per cent), NSW (76 per cent) and Victoria (64 per cent).
This was a move that was celebrated by health professionals at the time who were keen for a fresh start.
The second of these was the infrastructure portfolio, to which he was appointed five years ago.
He resigned from this position in August following the mismanagement of a port infrastructure project designed to accommodate the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels at East Devonport.
Mr Ferguson faced a fight in parliament to keep his position as Tasmanian treasurer and Deputy Premier, before he announced his resignation from these roles, and other ministerial roles, late on Monday.
The numbers were against him with 18 votes likely to support a motion of no confidence.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff had said earlier in the day that should the motion pass, Mr Ferguson would resign from cabinet and take a seat on the backbench.
Mr Ferguson, on announcing his resignation from cabinet, described the scenario as "the brutal mathematics of politics".
"In those circumstances, with nobody asking me to, I've offered my resignation to the Premier and to the Governor," he said.
The Liberals will need to be careful about who is next appointed to the deputy leadership.
So who will fill the empty space?
GUY BARNETT AND ROGER JAENSCH
Mr Barnett, with Mr Ferguson, was elected to the lower house following the 2010 election as part of the Liberal opposition.
Like his Northern counterpart, Mr Barnett has held a number of senior positions in cabinet, notably now serving as the Health Minister and in what is considered to be the second most powerful position in government, Attorney-General.
He held the position as the state's Energy Minister, which like the portfolios he holds now, had been subject to its own controversies.
The Liberals' party room appears to be finely balanced between the conservatives and the moderates, which means he would be seen as a good option to balance out the leadership.
Roger Jaensch was elected to parliament as part of the Liberal government in 2014.
In his second term, he was rewarded with a seat in cabinet, taking on the problematic human services and housing portfolios.
He was accused of misleading parliament in 2021 when he claimed to be unaware of changes to tenancy laws, which was contradicted in a ministerial minute produced by former Greens leader Cassy O'Connor.
Mr Jaensch denied he had misled parliament when answering questions about tenancy laws, and survived a no-confidence motion that was moved against him.
In 2022, he was sworn in as Minister for Education, Children and Youth, Skills, Training and Workforce Growth, State Growth, Environment, and Aboriginal Affairs.
Since the expanded parliament, his workload has been somewhat reduced.
His wide-ranging experiences in previous portfolios might make his a strong contender for the Treasurer position.
Like Mr Barnett, he too could be a consideration for the deputy leadership of the Liberal party.
However, like Premier Jeremy Rockliff, the member for Braddon is a moderate, so having Mr Barnett in the role might assuage the right wing of the party.
There are 11 members of the government's ministry, including two members of the Legislative Council.
If Mr Ferguson was to forfeit his position, it would leave a seat open to a member of the backbench.
Jacquie Petrusma has held several portfolios in the past before she resigned those positions for health reasons.
She later resigned from parliament for other reasons, but successfully stood for election this year.
Simon Behrakis is known to be an ambitious contender for a junior ministerial role, having served as a ministerial adviser before his entry into parliament after a number of attempts.
/////////
Watch this space! The folly that claims government is revealing its weaknesses as it stumbles from one crisis to the next and the stumbles are getting closer together. Has anyone imagined an election before Christmas!? There are fools in charge of paradise ... SADLY!!
///////
Revealed: Supreme Court backlog crisis, Barnett accused of inaction
By Nick Clark
Updated October 15 2024 - 8:56am, first published September 16 2024 - 2:30pm
Attorney-General and Justice Minister Guy Barnett.
The Labor Opposition has been informed that the Supreme Court of Tasmania's backlog has exploded to 885 cases.
The 20 per cent rise follows a record backlog of 743 cases recorded to June 30, 2023. This compares with 381 cases in 2016-17. In 2021-22, the court finalised 455 cases for the whole year.
The backlog equates to two full years of cases without any new cases being listed.
Bass Labor MP Janie Finlay sought an answer on the backlog from Attorney-General and Justice Minister Guy Barnett through a parliamentary process. The backlog has grown from 382 in 2016.
On Monday, more than 420 people appeared in the Supreme Court in Launceston Hobart and Burnie and had their matters adjourned.
In August, The Examiner published a letter from a complainant who wrote of the cruelty of waiting years for her abuser to go on trial.
In his 2019-20 annual report, Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC summarised the threat to justice posed by the criminal backlog.
"It should be remembered in respect to every case that is awaiting determination there are victims, witnesses, and accused in a highly stressful situation," he said.
"One of the consequences of cases being delayed is that witnesses become fatigued and unavailable or their memories fade."
The Department of Justice refused the Examiner's request for active disclosure in July 2024 and a Right to Information request for assessed disclosure in August 2024.
Labor member for Bass Janie Finlay in parliament.
Picture by Phillip Biggs.
Ms Finlay said the current timeframes were completely unreasonable.
"Prolonging the stress and turmoil experienced by those awaiting the delivery of justice is unacceptable," she said.
"This situation has been allowed to develop under the Liberal Government's watch, who have failed to act and failed to address the problem.
Ms Finlay said Chief Justice Alan Blow had described the backlog problem as the court's "greatest challenge".
"This data is further evidence that the Liberal minority government has failed to reduce the unacceptable backlog in Tasmania's court system, delaying justice for Tasmanians," she said.
"It should be noted that while these numbers are seriously alarming, each individual case represents an incredibly significant event in the lives of those affected, which has yet to be resolved."
"It is important that the retirement of Chief Justice Blow does not further compound the backlog problem.
"The State Government must do everything it possibly can to support the Court's efforts to reduce the backlog and must continue to explore ways of alleviating the pressure our justice system is currently under."
The Supreme Court has seven judges, but Justice Gregory Geason is on indefinite leave.
New Law Society of Tasmania president Will Justo said the backlog was a big issue.
"We are one judge down but even if there were infinite number of judges and infinite courts we do not have infinite number of lawyers," Mr Justo said.
"There is a chronic shortage of lawyers and that is in both prosecution and defence."
Mr Justo said criminal lawyers were not paid much, and many chose to work in more lucrative areas.
"There is a funding issue there, and Legal Aid is constrained by its funding," he said.
Mr Justo said there was a broad range of issues, but the major one was a shortage of lawyers because many graduate lawyers were being taken into the public service or to in-house jobs.
The Supreme Court backlog has been boosted by the relatively new charge of strangulation in which 139 people have been charged with 180 charges of strangulation.
In August, Mr Barnett told the Examiner that the reasons for the backlog were significant and complex.
Figures from the Report on Government Services 2022-2023 showed that Tasmania had the highest percentage of criminal cases older than 12 months old. The state's 40 per cent compares with NSW (25 per cent), Victoria (30 per cent) and Queensland (20 per cent) WA (17 per cent), SA (23 per cent), ACT and NT (30 per cent).
Tasmania has the lowest number (47 per cent) of criminal cases finalised in 12 months or less and compares with Qld (86 per cent), SA (80 per cent), NSW (76 per cent) and Victoria (64 per cent).
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