Tasmania January to June 2018

The year started as 2017 ended with the Liberal government and Labor neck‐and‐neck in the polls, signalling the likelihood of a hung parliament. But, as the old saying goes, the only poll that counts is the one on election day and in March the Hodgman Liberal government stormed home for a strong win at the state election, albeit with a reduced majority. As foreshadowed in the previous chronicle, the poker machine debate was a “game changer” but not as Labor would have hoped. Former Lord Mayor of Hobart, Sue Hickey, shoe‐horned into the Liberal team to help win a seat in the Denison electorate, provided a post‐election shock that raised questions about the government’s ongoing stability. Meanwhile a good‐news budget and strong economy had the government heralding “a golden age” ahead. However, not all was looking rosy, with an escalating housing crisis, unseasonal and damaging floods and growing pains for the tourism industry.