Jacqui Lambie tried to turn her idiosyncratic brand into a sort-of-party. But, like so many of those arrangements before, it’s quickly falling apart.
In the past few weeks, the political wreckage has been piling up even faster than usual. Both major parties got a drubbing at the recent Tasmanian election and, for a few days, it looked as if the Jacqui Lambie Network was a big winner.
But then the three previously obscure and naive Lambie members sold themselves to the Liberals for .. well, nothing, actually.
They’ve turned the Lambie Network into a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Liberal Party. And in doing so, they’ve inflicted serious damage on Jacqui herself.
This situation, like so many, has a back-story. This piece below goes into that, but it can be summed up this way:
Just when you think Tasmanian politics can’t get any weirder, it does.
Read the full article in The Policy Post.
Martyn Goddard is a public policy analyst specialising in health and state government funding. He was a member of the Australian Council on AIDS and Related Diseases and its clinical subcommittee; as well as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. He also served as a health policy officer at the Australian Consumers’ Association (Choice).