Last night I was honoured with the second largest vote of all the candidates across the state – second only to our hard-working Liberal leader Will Hodgman.
The vote in Bass saw 15,911 people vote for me; 25% of all voters.
While this is naturally the cause for celebration with my support team – I am mindful of the great responsibility that this brings. My goal now is to work hard for the whole community and to deliver on our policies and the hopes of all those who voted for real change.
It looks very much like the overall result will be a hung parliament: Liberal 10, Labor 10, Green 5. If this result holds, with Liberal securing more votes than any other party – Will Hodgman’s Liberal team should form the new government and the other parties will need to give undertakings to accept this until the next election is due.
I would like to take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to all those who supported my election campaign. We achieved something very special for Bass and I will strive to be worthy of the trust you have placed in me.
Thank you,
Michael Ferguson
A very well deserved success mate. Honesty, hard work and integrity were attributes that were quite obviously a huge contributing factor to your successful campaign. It was very impressive to see a campaign as brave as yours, having confidence in those qualities rather than using brutal tactics. Congrats.
Hi Michael. Congratulations on your victory. I don’t live in Tasmania anymore, but I grew up in Northeast Tasmania and my parents who still live there voted for you.
However, I feel I have to take issue with your comment that “Will Hodgman’s Liberal team should form the new government and the other parties will need to give undertakings to accept this until the next election is due”.
Not so. The way Westminster democracy works is that whoever is able to command the confidence of the House of Assembly is entitled to form government.
The Greens are entirely within their rights to negotiate with either party to help that party form government. Yours is not a first past the post system. Your party did not win a majority of votes. Your party needs the support of the Greens or the support of the ALP to form government.
So please. None of this ordering the other parties around. There is no obligation for them to give any undertakings whatsoever and if your party hopes to form a government that goes the distance, it might be wise to approach the job, and the other people who have succeeded in getting elected, with some humility.
Nevertheless, I have to say from an outsider’s perspective that Will Hodgman seems a better option than the other lot.
Good luck. I hope that in a few years time my mother and father will look back on their decision this time with some satisfaction.
Well done Michael! At last you have been recognised for you hard work, honesty and integrity.