Tasmania's Racing Minister Jane Howlett Resigns from Cabinet

Tasmania's Racing Minister Jane Howlett has resigned from cabinet, citing "relentless personal and political" attacks from opposition parties as the reason.

It makes her the second minister to resign from Premier Jeremy Rockliff's cabinet in just over two weeks.

Ms Howlett has faced mounting pressure to move to the backbench over $300,000 in taxpayer money being used to pay her legal fees, and as of yesterday, questions over conflicting evidence about what her office knew about a breach of caretaker mode during the last election.

In a statement less than one hour before parliament was due to sit, Ms Howlett revealed she had tendered her resignation to the premier.

"It is obvious that the relentless personal and political attack on me is causing a significant distraction for the government, which I cannot allow to continue," Ms Howlett said.

"It has been an honour to serve the people of Tasmania across multiple portfolios.

Labor and the Greens had both called for Ms Howlett to resign before parliament resumed.

The two parties and the remaining members of the crossbench hold the majority of seats in parliament and could potentially have forced Ms Howlett out with a no-confidence motion.

Just over two weeks ago, Liberal MP Madeleine Ogilvie also stepped down from cabinet over allegations she had misled parliament.

Labor and the crossbench also forced out then-deputy premier Michael Ferguson in 2024 over the Spirit of Tasmania ferry debacle.

Stepping down today, Ms Howlett took aim at the minority parliament.

"Tasmanians should be rightly concerned the Opposition is continuing to destabilise minority government to put their own political interests ahead of the proper work of delivering for our state.

I intend to continue to serve the people of Lyons with dedication, hard work, and determination."

Ms Howlett has faced questions for years about whether she is the subject of an integrity investigation.

She has also been unable to explain why she has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded legal fees and has not answered questions around whether she is a party to a Supreme Court action.

Ms Howlett and the government maintain that it is legally complex and she will provide full details when she is able to.

Calls escalate over Tasracing saga

Labor and the Greens had already called for her resignation over these issues, but the heat was turned up following a parliamentary committee hearing on Monday.

The committee heard that Ms Howlett's office knew that Tasracing intended to publicly spruik a Liberal Party policy during an election, with Ms Howlett's advisor having seen the message.

Ms Howlett previously tabled two statutory declarations, on behalf of her advisor, claiming they did not know.

The government maintains that neither Ms Howlett, nor her office, was aware the message was to be sent publicly.

Rockliff decries 'political games'

In a statement, Premier Jeremy Rockliff thanked Ms Howlett for her service and suggested the opposition was playing "political games".

"Minister Howlett has made the decision to step aside to ensure the government remains focused on the job Tasmanians elected us to do," he said.

He said the political environment was becoming increasingly negative.

"In recent weeks, we have seen a pattern of relentless political attacks that have added to distraction and taken attention away from the work that matters to Tasmanians," he said.

Tasmanian Labor MP Ella Haddad said it was "disappointing that Ms Howlett has attempted to portray this as a personal, political attack".

"According to the Ministerial Code of Conduct, ministers must be able to withstand the closest public scrutiny," Ms Haddad said.

"It became abundantly clear over recent weeks and months that Ms Howlett had not.

It is the second time in four years that Ms Howlett has resigned.

In 2022, she left for personal reasons after the death of her brother, a week after being stripped of the sports portfolio by then-premier Peter Gutwein.

Ms Howlett will remain in parliament on the backbench.