Maverick Tasmanian MP John Tucker has threatened to “bring the government down” if it does not support his demands for mandatory CCTV in abattoirs and a cessation of AFL projects until the Macquarie Point stadium passes parliament.
In a press conference this morning, the independent member for Lyons set out his grievances over the government’s recent handling of animal cruelty allegations and decision to build a $70 million AFL high-performance training centre.
“If the two issues are not fixed, I will be moving a motion of no confidence in the government to bring the government down,” he said.
“They will not have my support, they will not have my supply and confidence.”
Mr Tucker, a former Liberal, defected to the crossbench last year. His vote is one of two the government relies on in the lower house to stave off an election.
Government doesn’t follow Tucker’s abattoir CCTV motion
After declaring that “Tuck’s back and the premier is on notice”, Mr Tucker said his support would be contingent on the implementation of his animal welfare motion, which was passed in parliament last month.
While not legally binding, the motion called for 24/7 video surveillance to be mandatory in Tasmanian abattoirs and independent random auditing of the footage.
The crossbencher’s concerns come after footage taken by animal rights activists at Tasmanian Quality Meats showed calves and sheep appearing to be conscious at the time of their deaths and being handled roughly and stunned incorrectly.
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The government voted in favour of Mr Tucker’s motion, but instead of moving to make CCTV mandatory, Primary Industries Minister Jo Palmer set up a taskforce to examine reforms to the industry.
This was met with ire from Mr Tucker.
“If the motion is not followed to the letter … I will be pulling my supply and confidence from this government,” he said.
“I find it amazing that this minister is treating the government, her own party members, with contempt as well.
“If she is going to disregard this motion and treat this issue with the animal cruelty … which needs to be acted on, in my opinion, very, very quickly … we’ve got a terrible situation on our hands here in Tasmania.”
The taskforce is scheduled to provide its report by March 31.
AFL training centre is ‘cart before the horse’
In May last year, Mr Tucker and fellow Liberal Lara Alexander unexpectedly quit the party over their concerns about the Rockliff government’s support for the controversial $715 million AFL stadium proposed for Hobart’s Macquarie Point.
The pair later signed an agreement with the government to maintain confidence and supply.
Under the agreement, the government announced it would designate the stadium as a project of state significance, which means it requires the approval of parliament before it can be built.
While that process has yet to play out, last month the government announced it intended to start construction at Rosny Parklands on a $70 million high-performance AFL training base.
Mr Tucker said the decision was sign the government was treating parliament with “contempt” and he did not want to see any further action until the Macquarie Point stadium had the support of parliament.
“I will not be tolerating the premier coming out and putting the cart before the horse and saying that we’ve already got a team, we’ve already got a stadium,” he said.
“That is a decision that will be made by state parliamentary colleagues going forward.”
The construction of a high-performance training centre is a condition of the deal signed with the AFL for a Tasmanian team, with timelines tight for the team to enter the league by 2028.
Government ‘continuing to work with industry and parliament’
In response to Mr Tucker’s demands, Police, Resources and Racing Minister Felix Ellis said the government was committed to animal safety.
“Our government is absolutely committed to doing what it takes to make sure that our abattoirs are safe and that they’re humane,” Mr Ellis said.
“We’re continuing to work with the industry and parliament around ensuring that we can deliver safe and humane red meat processing here in Tasmania.
“It’s critically important. There are hundreds of jobs that rely on it directly.”
Tasmania’s parliament is set to return in the first week of March.
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