Cards up your sleeve?

Tasmanians should be worried when the government tries to play its magic trick.

Ever had a “little secret” you didn’t want anyone to know? Maybe you pranged the car in the Coles car park. Maybe you splurged on a jacket your bank account would rather you hadn’t.

No big deal. You kept quiet, sorted it out, moved on.

But when governments hide billion-dollar decisions? When they bury business cases and gag departments? That’s not a secret, that’s a strategy. A dangerous one.

This week, it was revealed the Liberals are withholding the final Marinus Link business case during caretaker mode until the last minute.

No public release. No briefing for the opposition.

And if this trick feels familiar, it’s because it is.

Déjà vu: budget tricks and TT-Line secrecy, 2021

Let’s rewind.

At the last state election, the Liberals pulled the same stunt:

• Delayed the release of the full state budget, keeping voters in the dark about key spending decisions.
• Masked the growing cost of the new TT-Line ferries, only for the price tag (and delays) to balloon once the votes were in.

They did it then.

They’re doing it now.

This isn’t about governance; it’s about gaming the election, plain and simple.

Caretaker conventions exist for one reason: to prevent governments from binding the hands of future leaders without consent. That includes transparency on major infrastructure, budgets, contracts, and commitments.

The Marinus Link isn’t just a power project, it’s a multi-billion-dollar gamble on Tasmania’s energy future.

But instead of explaining the costs, the risks, and the expected return, Rockliff and Co. are hoping to run out the clock. Or hoping that it gets signed off without scrutiny. Or gets held up and they can blame somebody.

But if there was nothing to hide, why not release the full business case before polling day?

Simple: Because they don’t want voters asking the hard questions they can’t answer.

Fool me twice? Not this time.

The Liberals used this trick in 2021, and once in power, the true budget story unravelled.

But publicly funded infrastructure, billion-dollar contracts, and critical energy policy?

That belongs to all of us.

The Liberals say they’re being responsible. They’ve released the details at the last possible moment. But it looks a lot more like they’re hiding the receipts. just like last time.

And Tasmania cannot afford another round of buyer’s remorse.

No party in their right mind would back the caretaker government on this.

Because if you know you are being tricked, then more fool you.