ABC News: Jess Moran
)The Tasmanian Liberals are set to pin their election hopes on local councillors with a number of sitting members, including Huon Valley Mayor Bec Enders, being preselected.
Former Labor MP, turned independent, Madeleine Ogilvie will run for the Liberals in the seat of Clark.
She will be joined by Hobart City aldermen Simon Behrakis and Will Coats and former RACT boss Harvey Lennon.
In the southern seat of Franklin, Cr Enders will run alongside Clarence councillor Dean Ewington and former federal candidate Dean Young.
Former mining minister Adam Brooks, who resigned in 2019 following a damning Integrity Commission report, will seek to return to parliament in the northern-western seat of Braddon.
When Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein announced the election on Friday, he said it was because the resignation of house speaker Sue Hickey from the Liberal Party left it in minority.
On Sunday he dodged questions around the preselection of Ms Ogilvie, which effectively put the government back in majority, and whether it was necessary to go to an election.
ABC News: Jessica Moran
)"I believe in democracy and Tasmanians should have their say on who represents them as part of the strong stable majority government that I want to lead," he said.
"Madeleine Ogilvie joined the Liberal Party yesterday.
A Liberal campaign source said the party was hoping to shore up Ms Ogilvie’s personal votes and make the fifth Clark seat a contest between Labor and independent Kristie Johnston.
Even Labor’s internal polling suggests it is on track to potentially lose a seat in Clark.
Ms Ogilvie said she'd had a "range of conversations" with various Liberal Party members, and said the pandemic highlighted the importance of stable government.
She said her values hadn't changed since she was first elected to State Parliament as a Labor MP in 2014.
"I'm an incredibly trustworthy person… I've done the difficult thing for better or worse," she said.
Ms Ogilvie said she was pleased to be an independent MP, and said she was "a bit of a thorn in the side of government" but she now wanted to see a stable majority government elected.
"Peter Gutwein can do that and you know what, I got to know him and I like him," she said.
Ms Ogilvie said the Labor Party voters who voted for her or former MHA Scott Bacon should "get on board with Gutwein".
"We will have a stable majority government, we're coming out a pandemic, we need to develop economically and I want jobs for our kids," she said.
Adam Brooks hoping to return
Mr Gutwein also avoided directly addressing former Liberal member Adam Brooks's controversial past.
"I believe the people of Braddon should have their say of who represents them. Adam Brooks has been a very strong representative of Braddon in the past," he said.
"I'm pleased that he's put his name forward and the people of Braddon will have a say of who represents them."
Mr Brooks said he was cleared of any impropriety by the Integrity Commission's report.
"Some people try and live in the past and I accept that. I'm about the future, I'm about the future of Braddon, the future of Tasmania and the future majority Liberal Gutwein government compared to a disastrous Labor Green chaos," Mr Brooks said.
Mr Brooks said he had stepped down from State Parliament because of his health and personal circumstances, but he was now in a position to return.
"I always said I would continue to contribute to the community. there's been overwhelming support in the community for me, I've still been active in the community and I'll continue to do that irrespective of what the voters of Braddon decide on May 1," he said.
All 12 sitting Liberal members have been preselected.
