Chief Minister Andrew Barr will appoint two Labor newcomers direct to ministerial jobs, he announced on Monday, with the future of the Greens' Shane Rattenbury still up in the air.
Mr Barr said he had reserved a spot for Mr Rattenbury, who he expected to join his cabinet this week. But Mr Rattenbury insisted the Greens had not decided whether to take a ministerial post.
"The eventual ministry will have seven members, six Labor and one Green, that I would anticipate being Shane Rattenbury," Mr Barr said.
He and Mr Rattenbury were working on a system to allow Mr Rattenbury to consult with the other Green, newcomer Caroline Le Couteur, on the "significant issues that require a Greens party view" without breaching cabinet confidentiality. The detail would be part of an agreement to be released this week.
"Discussions I've been having with Shane about how the cabinet agenda is shaped and the timeframe around those questions ought to allow for consultation with non-executive colleagues in both parties," Mr Barr said.
But Mr Rattenbury said he had not made a decision.
"I will keep talking to Andrew Barr about the Greens' priorities for the next term of Assembly, and Caroline and I will make a decision in the coming days about whether taking a ministry is the best way for us to deliver real change," he said.
Among key issues, Mr Rattenbury points to public transport, affordable housing, a corruption commission and poker machine reform.
Mr Barr said the two were working on a Tasmanian-style integrity commission.
On pokies reform, he rejected the Greens' call for $1 maximum spins. The Greens also want mandatory pre-commitment on pokies so gamblers nominate up front how much they will spend. Mr Barr said he was open to that for new machines "but a retrospective roll-out across all the existing machines would be a very expensive way forward".
"A future-focused policy on mandatory pre-commitment I think has merit," he said.
He was also open to bigger cuts to poker machine numbers. The Greens want 10 machines for every 1000 adults, in line with the national average, instead of 16.5.
Mr Barr announced the six Labor ministers on Monday: existing ministers Yvette Berry, Meegan Fitzharris and Mick Gentleman, and newcomers former Uniting Church minister Gordon Ramsay, and the former chief of staff to Labor Senator Kim Carr, Rachel Stephen-Smith.
Ms Berry was confirmed as deputy chief minister by the 12-member Labor caucus, following in the footsteps of her father, Wayne Berry, who was deputy chief minister under Rosemary Follet and later led the Labor Party in opposition.
Mr Barr will assign ministerial portfolios next week, but confirmed he would remain as treasurer and tourism and economic development minister, and Ms Fitzharris would become health minister.
Labor's Joy Burch is expected to become Speaker, with Mr Barr saying he had discussed the nomination with Mr Rattenbury, although Mr Rattenbury said he had not decided who to support.
Mr Barr's cabinet has three women and three men, plus a fourth if and when Mr Rattenbury joins the team. While the party's right faction dominates the new parliamentary team (six spots, with five from the left, and one unaligned in Mr Ramsay), the left dominates Cabinet (three left-faction ministers, two from the right and Mr Ramsay).
The Tasmanian integrity commission has the power to require witnesses to give evidence and search powers. Investigators report to a chief executive who gathers comments, then reports to a board. The board decides whether to table recommendations in parliament, refer an issue to a minister or to police, set up an Integrity Tribunal or recommend a commission of inquiry. If an Integrity Tribunal is set up its hearings are usually public.
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