The Jacqui Lambie Network will preference Labor above the Liberals in the critical Tasmanian seats of Braddon and Lyons, but will put the Liberal Bridget Archer above Labor’s Ross Hart in the ultra-marginal seat of Bass.
Having secured preferences in two lower house seats, Labor will preference Lambie’s Senate candidate Tammy Tyrrell above other parties and independents, which boosts her chances of grabbing the final Tasmanian Senate spot.
The preference swaps will help Labor in its effort to retain Lyons, a seat the Liberals are targeting, and boost its chances of winning Braddon, which is held by the Liberal Gavin Pearce on a margin of 3.1%.
Lambie’s support will be helpful to Archer, a Liberal moderate who holds Bass on a 0.4% margin. Pauline Hanson confirmed last week that in the Tasmanian contests, she would preference against Archer in Bass but in favour of Pearce in Braddon.
Hanson rounded on Lambie at the end of April, accusing her of doing a deal with the Liberal party after the Tasmanian Liberals confirmed they would recommend that voters support Lambie candidates ahead of One Nation.
The One National leader told Sky News she was “shocked and disgusted” with the Liberals for supporting the Lambie Network “without even debating and negotiating” with Lambie, and also criticised the Liberals’ decision to preference Derryn Hinch’s Justice party ahead of One Nation in Victoria.
Lambie flatly denied at that time any deal had been done with the Liberals. She said on Thursday “there was talk many months ago about preferences” during a walk down the Senate corridor.
Guardian Australia understands Archer will appear at No 3 on the Lambie how-to-vote cards for Bass, with Labor’s candidate, Ross Hart, at No 5. In Lyons, Labor’s Brian Mitchell will appear at No 3 and the Liberal candidate, Susie Bower, at No 5.
Labor’s Chris Lynch will appear at No 6 in Braddon, followed by Pearce at No 7. Lambie will put the high-profile independent Craig Garland, who has recommended in the past his supporters support Labor ahead of the Liberals, and the Local party’s Scott Rankin ahead of the major parties in Braddon.
Strategists are privately confident that Labor will hold Lyons. Braddon at this point is considered line ball, although Labor believes Lambie preferences will strengthen its position. The Liberals are confident Archer can hold on in Bass, even though Scott Morrison is unpopular in the north of the state.
Lambie told the ABC on Thursday she believed Labor was picking up steam in Tasmanian seats. “[Anthony Albanese] has picked up a whole new level ahead of Morrison down here in Tassie and I think that has got a lot to do with the cost of living – I’ll be honest with you,” she said.
“People are really, really feeling it.”
She said that in 2019 Labor had lost momentum during the campaign.
“I can tell you now, that is not happening to Anthony Albanese.”
She said many voters in the state felt the Liberals had been in government for nine years “and they are doing it harder than ever”.
“Jobseeker is gone, jobkeeper is gone, the little bit of savings they might have saved up because they couldn’t go out and wine and dine and spend their money during Covid – that has now gone.
“Their electricity bills are about to come in, fuel has gone through the roof, a leg of lamb down here in Tasmania … is fifty bucks, people are living on chicken, which is great for our chicken guys down here … people are having to buy chicken because they can’t afford meat, so I tell you, they are really feeling it.
“Groceries are killing them.”
Lambie played down the significance of any preference swaps on the outcome of the election contest. She said Tasmanians were not big followers of how-to-vote cards. “Most people go above the line in Tasmania,” she said.
“It’s not a big deal.”
