With the 15 members of the Leg Co on the brink of debating next week whether the Mac Point stadium build should go ahead, they’ll have yet one more thorny issue to ponder with Tasmania’s credit rating downgrade by the ratings agency, Moody’s. 1/3

The weather is being anything but kind to my hardy friends getting out on roadsides everyday to promote the No Stadium rally next Sunday at 11am. Join them tomorrow morning from 7.30 at the top of Macquarie St, opposite the Southern Outlet. Wrap up warmly and bring along a jacket!

A great start to rebooting Voices of Franklin on Thursday at Robbie Brown’s, Kingston Beach. The focus? Making Franklin ever more Independent in state & federal elections. Thank you, to everyone who gathered to hear about the growing Independent movement www.voicesoffranklin.org/home

No team without the Macquarie Point stadium? That mantra just doesn’t hold true when you strip it down. Here’s a discussion with author and journalist, Richard Flanagan, on why it’s perfectly reasonable to say “Yes Team, No Stadium” - Pt1/2

For a state struggling to educate Tasmanians for the 21st century, swinging fee hikes and course cuts is the last thing we need. Looks like budget cuts in all the wrong places to help pay for the AFL stadium we don’t need and can’t afford. #politas

More spin than a laundrette is my quick takeaway from the government’s lazy response to the Tasmanian Planning Commission’s deep analysis of the Macquarie Point Stadium proposal. Frankly, it reads like a consultant’s report created using ChatGPT that wouldn’t convince even the most avid 1/2

@senatorpennywong must act.

Tasmanian ship’s captain Madeleine Habib has been detained after the boat The Conscience was intercepted in international waters off the coast of Gaza in recent hours. The ship was carrying 92 passengers, all journalists and medical staff, with the mission to open sea access for Gazans 1/3

Thanks to Save Our Marine Environment and Environment Tasmania for the honour of speaking before the Franklin Palais showing of the magnificent film, Ocean with David Attenborough, to a full house on Saturday evening.

It’s been a long time coming but at last some movement on making Tasmania’s government and its decision making more transparent and accountable. Last week we saw the report on our Right to Information and it was pretty damning. Its recommendations for change will be hard for the government to resist

The Tasmanian planning commission has come out with a very clear verdict on the Macquarie point Stadium. It’s not in the right place, it doesn’t come at the right cost and it will be an imposition on future generations as the costs of running the place mount. 1/2

A mea culpa today, I’m sorry to say. But if you set out to be transparent as an MP, you have to admit your failings while claiming your successes.

I met with members of the Leslie Vale Community Group tackling real community issues - the dangerous intersection where Leslie Vale Road intersects with the Huon Highway, blasts from the nearby blue metal quarry, foot tracks & a planned mobile phone tower.

Tasmania’s locally owned helicopter rescue service, Rotorlift, has lost its bid for a new $350million 10-year contract to a mainland company. I met owner, Allana Corbin, a week ago raising issues with the tender process that she felt unfairly discriminated against Rotorlift. 1/3

What might have been a long day in Parliament with high drama over Labor’s motion for a no confidence motion in Jeremy Rockliff’s Liberals turned out to be something of a damp squib. You might think that’s a good thing. Labor lost the motion overwhelmingly when not one member 1/5

The Liberals are home and hosed. Labor’s no-confidence motion against the Rockliff government will fail, pre-determined by five Greens announcing they won’t support it. This is more to do with Labor’s ineptitude in abysmally failing to work towards genuine compromise and collaboration than anything.

Discussion continue with Liberal and Labor party leaders over the policies they’ll pursue if they take the reins of government next week. This evening it was Labor’s Dean Winter talking to the whole cross bench about policy issues of concern. It may seem all very slow and tedious if you’re 1/3

Is there or isn’t there a farmed salmon disease outbreak in off Roaring Beach at the south of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel? Depends on who you speak to. Last night I got a call from caretaker premier, Jeremy Rockliff about a “serious issue” involving disease in salmon pens and the 1/3

Some signs of hope today that the Liberals have grasped the nettle of working as a minority government when caretaker Treasurer, Eric Abetz, convened a meeting with cross benchers to discuss collaboration in getting the state out of the ever increasing budget black hole.

Regarding minister Murray Watts decision on Macquarie harbour: “Any government  with a conscience would have encouraged the transition of the industry out of our waterways by increasing lease fees and imposing a resource rental tax on their turnover.

Some optimistic signs this weekend that both Labor and Liberal parties are getting to grips with the idea of what good minority government looks like. Amazingly, an idea I floated as a “dream” several weeks ago of appointing the very smart independent MLC, Ruth Forrest 1/3

Hold on to your hats - bumpy road ahead. With Jeremy Rockliff facing down the next Parliament by daring it to challenge the Liberals’ right to sit on the Treasury benches and Labor’s Dean Winter threatening an immediate no confidence vote in less than two weeks’ time when the new Parliament 1/2

Collaboration across Parliament starts with the Declaration of the Polls in Parliament House, Hobart today. So many thanks to Liberal stalwart & caretaker Treasurer, Guy Barnett, for taking the photo and sending it to me.

Wow! Talk about a sobering experience - a briefing by Treasury officials to cross benchers shows how the debt burden is eating up our future. They’re warning it’s “mathematically impossible to grow our way out of debt” because we’re borrowing as if using a credit card to pay for both the mortgage1/2

I might be dreaming but what about respected independent MLC, Ruth Forrest, for the next state Treasurer to start budget repair? I caught up with her in Launceston today to hear her views about dealing with escalating debt. Across party lines, Ruth’s widely viewed as one of our most able MPs. 1/2

Daily dispatch: there’s been a positive response to the efforts of independents Kristie Johnston, Craig Garland & me on our decision to take a slow & careful route towards a stable minority government for the next four years. Craig & I met Opposition leader Dean Winter today. 1/2

Daily Dispatch: This afternoon in my first collaboration with independents Kristie Johnston and Craig Garland, we issued a joint statement on our approach to collaborative minority government, promising good faith negotiations and no drip feeding to the media. Find the statement on the website

Daily Dispatch: Not a lot to report today - just preparations for becoming the new kid on the block in Parliament. I did catch up with MLC Meg Webb and I reckon she’s right in proposing legislating a 4-year fixed term Parliament to help build stability and good governance.

Daily Dispatch: Today I met with Dean Winter, but also of interest, was a document on protocols that was released by Rockliff to the public, with just an hour or two of preview for the Independents. All I can say at this stage is it is a little disappointing as a protocol for collaboration

My condolences to everyone at the ABC. Peter Ryan was, in a tough profession, a truly gentle person, and he was a lovely man to know, a lovely man to deal with. Always gentle, a real delight.

Daily dispatch: Well the process of forming government has begun, and I’ve been in initial conversations with party leaders today. Not much else to report so far, but it is a concern that both Labor and Liberal have drawn hard lines in the sand about their positions. #politas #taspol

39 days took us from a standing start to winning more votes in Franklin on the current count than any other candidate. We have sent a strong message Liberal and Labor. Thankyou to everyone who supported and drove our campaign with such goodwill and to all the people in Franklin who voted for me.

Thanks Essie! Voting for more support for teachers, at both secondary and primary level will help build the best possible futures for our kids and grandkids. Voting independent means voting for a voice for your community. Let’s get this done Franklin! #voteindependent #votepetergeorge

Final reminder folks, only YOU have the POWER to determine where your preferences go. To vote independent in Franklin, head to Group C, number the boxes 1-7 and then if you wish, continue numbering other candidates in the order of your preference. You MUST number at least 7 boxes for a valid vote

Rayne Allinson, another independent candidate in Franklin speaks about our democracy, and how a minority government truly serves communities, counter to the rhetoric of the two old parties. Thanks @voicesoftasmania for working to strengthen our democracy through community independents.

Tomorrow, Tasmanians go back to the polls for their state election — and we couldn’t be prouder to support community backed independent Peter George 🙌 Hear from some of his supporters on why they’re backing him to win 🌞 #politas #taspol #voteindependent #votepetergeorge

To learn more about my policy platform before you vote this Saturday, head to www.petergeorgeforfranklin.com

Today my campaign reports all donors who have contributed $1,000 or more to the campaign since the state election was called on June 10. This includes donations made in the 20 days before new election funding laws came into force on July 1. I call on the two old parties to do the same.

How to vote. 🗳️ Under the Hare Clark system only you, the voter has the power to direct preferences. So, how do you do that? By numbering every box. Find Group C, vote 1️⃣ Peter George, and then number boxes 2,3,4,5,6,7 Group C, and then continue to number ALL boxes in the order of your preference.

Yet again both the old parties have refused to meet not just with community, but 12 organisations who are actively working to protect Tasmania’s native heritage through invasive species management. Independents can work together on solutions, be a powerful crossbench, and form minority government.

Beep for Pete! 📣 And remember to vote 1️⃣ Peter George 19th July in the 2025 Tasmanian state election. If elected, I will address the key issues affecting our state and the electorate of Franklin. Health, Housing and Education. Not to mention an Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Met up at Verona Sands with Independent support candidates, Rayne Allinson & Kirsten Bacon, and some of our great volunteers. Everyone is pushing on to get us to election day, July 19. #voteindependent #independentpetergeorge #petergeorgeforfranklin #independentpetergeorge

Thanks to the Wilderness Society for a day in what’s left of an old forest at Lonnavale - or what’s not left other than burnt biomass. Our forests are worth more standing than they are destroyed for export. We’ve subsidised the industry to the tune of around a billion dollars over the past 20 years.

The plan to create a state owned insurance company is reckless. Only weeks ago they were talking about selling off up to 16 state owned businesses to pay off debt and now have totally flipped. Economist Saul Eslake says, this is a guaranteed way to lose money in a state already in debt of $13b

Come & hear from the Franklin Candidates in either of 2 Meet the Candidate events that Voices of Tasmania are hosting. Please bring your friends to hear what the candidates are standing for and ask your questions. See poster attached below for details and to register your place