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The Tasmanian government minister who quit the Liberal party on Friday over allegations of bullying and leaks of damaging private messages says she is reconsidering leaving state parliament and may sit as an independent, which could trigger an early election.
Former attorney-general Elise Archer announced on Friday that she would resign from the Liberal party and the parliament, but while she has left the party she has not yet tendered her parliamentary resignation to Tasmania's governor.
Her departure from the government and Liberal party came after Premier Jeremy Rockliff kicked her out of the cabinet, blaming an allegation of bullying by a former staff member, and leaked private messages, one of which he said was "unacceptable by any standard".
On Sunday afternoon Ms Archer told the ABC she was reconsidering her decision to resign from parliament.
"I've received an outpouring of support from the community, so I am taking some time to reconsider," Ms Archer said.
Ms Archer said she would take her time to make a decision, but if she remained in parliament she would sit as an independent and she would not guarantee supply and confidence to the government.
"[I would be] no longer part of the government. They have themselves to blame."
If Ms Archer remained in parliament as an independent, the minority Liberal government would be at risk of losing votes on the floor of parliament, even with the support of the two former Liberal backbenchers who defected to the crossbench earlier this year.
Tasmanian electoral analyst Kevin Bonham told the ABC this would be "election territory" for the government.
"You can't be continually fronting up to a parliament where you don't have the numbers and there's constant uncertainty about whether the government can continue," Mr Bonham said.
"That could be so unstable that it's even possible that you could get a mid-term change of government out of that, or a change of premier."
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