Adam Holmes
Hobart, TAS
Adam Holmes is a journalist at ABC Hobart, formerly of the Examiner and Advocate in Tasmania, the Bendigo Advertiser and rural publications in Victoria. He has covered local, state and federal politics in depth, but also enjoys telling genuine grassroots stories. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHolmes010
Latest by Adam Holmes
'30 million euro was not going to do it': Details emerge about the project to replace the Spirit of Tasmania ferries
By Adam Holmes
Replacing the two Bass Strait ferries has been far from plain sailing, with operator TT-Line facing obstacle after obstacle. This week, the state-owned company detailed how it came to the decision to pay the shipbuilder an extra $81 million, while copping a 400 per cent blowout in wharf upgrade costs — without telling the public.
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Staff and families had concerns about death certificates at a hospital. Now, 29 have been referred to the coroner
By Adam Holmes
In 2021, a woman raised concerns about a staff member at a major Tasmanian hospital who issued a death certificate for her grandmother. That staff member responded they had the proper authorisation — as it turns out, they did not. Now, a total of 29 deaths at the LGH will be referred to the coroner.
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Analysis
analysis:'This is democracy in action': Why Tasmania's collaborative new parliament is a win for voters
By Adam Holmes
Dramatic sighs, sarcastic laughter, rhetorical questions. Parliamentary performances aren't new, but with multiple non-government bills passed this week, Tasmanian politicians showed they can collaborate — well, sort of.
Tasmanian government loses control as opposition passes legislation
By Adam Holmes
Chinks in Tasmania's minority government armour are appearing, as within the space of hours, The Greens and Labor passed two consecutive bills through the lower house against the government's wishes, both on issues that the Liberals have long held out on.
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'Wu-Tang is life': Fans fly into Hobart just to hear world’s most expensive album
By Adam Holmes
A group of Wu-Tang Clan fans are among the first in the world to hear a mix of a "secret" album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. It comes as its former owner faces a bitter legal battle, with allegations parts of it have been leaked.
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'Urgent action': Tasmania's Office of Racing Integrity blocks Victorian trainer from racing in Tasmania
By Chris Rowbottom and Adam Holmes
Tasmania's director of racing moves to block Victorian trainer Robbie Walters from fielding horses in harness meets this weekend, following a direct request from the state's racing minister.
A Tasmanian MP spoke at a 'sovereign citizens' event. One of them plans to create a 'parallel society'
By Adam Holmes
Tasmania's newest independent MP spoke at an event on the weekend that featured multiple "sovereign citizens" — one of whom plans to create a parallel society — but says he had "no idea" who most of them were.
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Arrest warrant issued for Tasmanian Aboriginal elder but 81yo says he doesn't recognise 'colonial' courts
By Adam Holmes
An 81-year-old Tasmanian Aboriginal elder says Australian courts hold no jurisdiction over Indigenous people and he will not participate in the court process after being charged at a native forest protest. Now a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
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Deborah Conway concert flares amid pro-Palestinian protest and confrontation
By Adam Holmes
Tensions flare at a Hobart concert after pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the performance of Jewish singer-songwriter Deborah Conway, with one audience member smashing a wine glass on the stage and holding it towards an activist.
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The Hobart AFL stadium may have just increased in cost for Tasmania. So whose fault is it?
By Adam Holmes
A war of words over whether Hobart's proposed Macquarie Point urban renewal project — the site of a new stadium — should be exempt from GST calculations has erupted. The Federal Labor treasurer says no — and the Liberal state treasurer is fuming.
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Spirit of Tasmania replacement ferries aren't on time, however, Finnish builder gets late-fee clause removed
By Adam Holmes
The much-awaited two brand new Spirit of Tasmania ferries are due in the third quarter of this year, but with its Finnish shipbuilder in financial trouble and other problems of money and logistics, it has been anything but smooth sailing.
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Video of vandal toppling statue of controversial premier posted online as police investigate
By Adam Holmes
A statue of divisive colonial-era figure William Crowther has stood in central Hobart since 1889, that was until one night this week when it was toppled. Video has surfaced showing people carrying out the act.
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Salmon farms are this species' main extinction threat. But have the farms changed – or just kept going?
By Adam Holmes
Scientists last year raised the alarm — twice — about the fate of Tasmania's endangered Maugean skate after its population was found to have declined by 47 per cent. But while the salmon industry maintains that all's well, it has also asked for a shift in goal posts to redefine a 'healthy' harbour to a 'viable' one.
A devious dinner invite that led to a mutilated corpse: why William Crowther draws such ire
By Adam Holmes
In the 1860s, there was a "loathsome" rush to collect the bones of Aboriginal Tasmanians. It sparked a shameful saga, centring on unsuspecting Aboriginal man William Lanne, and aspiring politician William Crowther. It echoes to this day – culminating in the toppling of a statue in Hobart.
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Fire risk 'very significant' in overcrowded Tasmanian house with 40 seasonal workers crammed inside
By Adam Holmes
The owner of a house where 40 workers from Vanuatu were living dismisses concerns of fire risk at the property, where Tasmanian authorities found 56 beds and conditions described as "poor and unsafe".
Coroner finds no evidence woman deliberately killed partner with car in 2020 and questions 'Jari's law'
By Adam Holmes
After a public campaign, an attorney-general's intervention and a tense inquest, a Tasmanian coroner has found that there was no evidence that a woman deliberately hit and killed her partner Jari Wise with her car.
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Marjorie's family thought her placement in male prison was a mistake. A phone call confirmed it was more than that
By Adam Holmes
A transgender prisoner policy was issued in 2009. It was meant to ensure the safety of transgender and other prisoners. But, over the next eight years, Marjorie Harwood was repeatedly placed with males and experienced significant trauma.
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Analysis
analysis:Timing of Labor's support for AFL stadium build far from coincidence, in wake of weekend upper house vote
By Adam Holmes
Labor has changed its stance on the proposed stadium for Hobart's Macquarie Point, with new leader Dean Winter throwing his support behind it. It will give the minority Liberal government the numbers it needs to get the proposal through the parliament's lower house, but why has the change come now?
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Hobart AFL stadium at Macquarie Point a near certainty as Labor lends its support
By Adam Holmes
Tasmanian Labor announces it will support the proposed Macquarie Point AFL stadium in Hobart, all but assuring it will pass parliament.
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After another Hobart prisoner took their life, coroner told inmate mental health services 'lowest in any developed country'
By Adam Holmes
Five prisoners have died by suicide in Hobart's Risdon Prison in the past decade, with Robert Harold Gerard among them. A coroner hears Gerard missed a psychiatric assessment weeks earlier because the only psychiatrist was on leave.
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Analysis
analysis:Tasmania has another three elections this weekend. They could cause more headaches for the Liberals
By Adam Holmes
It's Tasmania's answer to 'Super Saturday'. Three upper house elections on the same day could further shape parliament – and further complicate Jeremy Rockliff's legislative agenda.
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Seniors' village operator boasts 'chef'-prepared food in justifying rent rise. But some residents challenged that
Eureka Group is one of Australia's largest providers of independent living units for seniors. But tenants are having to spend 80 per cent of their age pension on rent just to live there.
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Premier Rockliff seals deals with key independents to prop up Tasmanian Liberal government
By Adam Holmes
Key Tasmanian independent MPs David O'Byrne and Kristie Johnston give formal guarantees of confidence and supply to the Liberal minority government. Here's what in the deals.
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Native forest logging cleared to go ahead next to Derby's world-famous mountain-biking trails
By Adam Holmes
A High Court challenge against the "self-regulating" aspect of Tasmania's public forestry company fails, clearing the way for native forest logging to continue at a coupe near Derby.
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The UK is a step closer to banning cigarettes for younger generations. Could it happen in Australia as well?
By Adam Holmes
British politicians are working to pass a law similar to one introduced to Tasmanian parliament in 2015 that would have banned the sale of tobacco to people born after January 1, 2000.