Question Time on Tuesday was dominated by questions from Labor to the Premier over his TAFE reforms. Greens leader Cassy O’Connor asked Mr Gutwein whether electoral reform was a government priority or whether the Liberal’s next election campaign would be bankrolled by gambling interests ahead of poker machine law reforms.Mr Gutwein did not address the question, but has previously committed to reforming the state’s notoriously lax laws surrounding electoral donations. Talk of an early election has put the passage of as-yet unseen legislation in doubt.“As I have said very clearly, I have an open mind. Tasmania will have an election when it needs one,” he said. Shadow attorney-general Ella Haddad said Tasmanians wanted the secrecy surrounding donations to end. “The minority Gutwein government looks set to again break its promise by refusing to commit to bring urgently required political donation law reform before the state parliament,” she said. Tuesday was the first parliamentary sitting day for the Gutwein minority government. Neither a vote of no-confidence motion, or a move against Ms Hickey in her role as speaker eventuated in the first few hours of sitting time. Labor leader Rebecca White said the government was in disarray.“You know that you have utterly failed and betrayed Tasmanians in relation to health, to housing, to the delivery of important infrastructure and now with your plan to wreck TAFE,” she said.“You have lost control and plunged Tasmania into minority government.”Huon Valley Council newsBy Jessica HowardAFTER four years in the top job, the general manager of the Huon Valley Council has resigned.The council appointed Emilio Reale, the former director of city services and infrastructure at the Glenorchy City Council, as its general manager in February 2017. Huon Valley Council had been looking for someone to fill the role, which attracted a salary package in 2018-19 of $200,000– $220,000, after then commissioner Adriana Taylor dismissed former general manager Simone Watson.Mr Reale had been selected from a pool of applicants from around Australia.A spokeswoman said the council did not wish to comment on the general manager’s resignation at this stage, but would issue a media release at a later time.Protesters protest protest lawsBy David KillickDEMONSTRATORS have held a silent vigil to oppose the government’s anti-protest laws, which are due to be considered by the Legislative Council on Wednesday.Almost 200 people turned out for the event on parliament Lawns, before a vigil along the front of Parliament House. The government’s anti-protest laws, said to be the toughest in the nation, were rejected by the High Court in 2017 before a revised version was passed by the House of Assembly in 2019.The changes add new offences relating to trespassing on business premises as well as an offence relating to obstructing public thoroughfares to workplaces with jail terms of up to four years.READ MORE:Groups band together in bid to stop anti-protest laws getting tickAdvocates hope the Upper House deems anti-protest laws ‘flawed’Protest organiser Hugh Nicklason described the laws as “draconian and authoritarian”. “Protest is how we get progress. Protests is how we fix issues that our society has. “Protest is part of our social fabric. Protesting is how we prevented the Franklin Dam from being built, protesting is how we have saved some of our forests — not all of them, a lot of them have been cut up into pulp — protesting is how we got women and first nations people’s the vote.“Impacting businesses is a fundamental part of protesting quite often the people that have all the power are the people that run the businesses and their friends behind us in parliament, are the ones that are trying to do them a favour by shutting down our ability to protest. He said he was protesting because of his concern that direct action on climate change would be targeted by the laws.“We’re in the midst of a climate catastrophe. We cannot be putting on anti-protest laws that lock up climate activists in the middle of in the middle of the end of the world, almost. “That is ridiculous.”Greens leader Cassy O’Connor backed the protesters.“This is a fantastic demonstration of democracy in action,” she said.“You have people here of all ages, but particularly young people standing up for their right to peaceful protest. “They recognise that the laws the Liberals have parked in the upper house are the most draconian and democratic anti protest laws in the country and they are not prepared or not prepared to take this sitting down. Multiple government MPs, including police minister Mark Shelton and Attorney General Elise Archer slipped through the vigil unrecognised. Six organisations – Civil Liberties Australia, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, Amnesty International Australia, Unions Tasmania, Human Rights Law Centre and the Tasmanian Council for Social Service – wrote a joint letter to Legislative Councillors asking they vote against the proposed laws because they are “undemocratic, illiberal, unjust, dangerous and technically flawed.”



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