Jacqui Lambie occupies a unique space in terms of Tasmania’s Federal political representation. She has some intensely weird and cooked ideas but the very occasional solid one – not unlike finding a red jelly baby in a dish of peppermint teeth – and as long as Eric Abetz keeps swanning about the state being objectively worse in every measurable metric, nothing she says or does will ever be seen as bad enough to have career-altering implications.
So yeah, sure. The batshit crazy Aunt of the Island State is now forming her own political party and intends to run candidates under her banner. Cool. Why the bloody hell not. What could possibly go wrong there.
Lambie revealed she’s officially applied to register the Jacqui Lambie Network as a formal political party, and revealed plans to field candidates across several key Tasmanian electorates in the next state election.
Tasmania is currently under a majority Liberal Party Government, but public support for the incumbents is waning severely, and Premier Will Hodgman has lost the lead in the preferred Premier stakes to Labor opposition leader Rebecca White for the first time.
With the next state election due to be held no later than May next year, Lambie’s move has the potential to shift votes away from the major parties, creating a voting vacuum that pundits believe would ultimately benefit Labor, potentially returning the state to a Labor/Greens minority government.
Lambie plans to run candidates in the electorates of Lyons, Braddon, and Bass. And her recruitment plea is Lambie 101.
If anyone wants the opportunity, and they think they can make a difference in Tasmania, and they actually have half a spine on them, then please stand up, and have a shot at this.
Honestly that sounds less like a political call-to-arms and more like a challenge for someone to step up and best her in fisticuffs at the State Fair.
Though frankly, the fact the party’s called Jacqui Lambie Network and not The West Coast Coolers Party is a horrendous misrepresentation.
