Parliament of Tasmania
50th Parliament
Coat of arms or logo
Logo
Type
Type
HousesLegislative Council
House of Assembly
History
Founded2 December 1856 (2 December 1856)
Leadership
Charles III
since 9 September 2022
Barbara Baker
since 16 June 2021
Craig Farrell, Labor
since 21 May 2019
Mark Shelton, Liberal
since 22 June 2021
Jeremy Rockliff, Liberal
since 8 April 2022
Rebecca White, Labor
since 7 July 2021
Structure
Seats40
25 MHAs
15 MLCs
House of Assembly political groups
Government

  Liberal (11)
Confidence and supply (2)
  Independent (2)[lower-alpha 1] Opposition
  Labor (8)
Crossbench
  Greens (2)
  Independent Labor (1)[lower-alpha 2]

  Independent (1)
Legislative Council political groups
Government
  Liberal (4)
Opposition
  Labor (4)
Crossbench
  Independent (6)[lower-alpha 3]
Vacant
  Vacant (1)[lower-alpha 4]
Elections
Hare-Clark
Partial Preferential
Last general election
1 May 2021
Next general election
In or before 2025
Meeting place
Tasmanian Parliament House
Parliament House, Hobart,
Tasmania, Australia
Website
www.parliament.tas.gov.au

The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly (the lower house), and Tasmanian Legislative Council (the upper house).[3] Since 1841, both Houses have met in Parliament House, Hobart. The Parliament of Tasmania first met in 1856.

The powers of the Parliament are prescribed in the Constitution of Tasmania, as amended from time to time. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, Tasmania has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, Tasmania ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas. In practice, however, the independence of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth.

The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly is invited by the Governor to form the Government and become Premier of Tasmania.

History

The island of Van Diemen's Land (now known as Tasmania) was claimed and subsequently settled by the United Kingdom in 1803. Initially, it was administered by the Governor of New South Wales, as part of that British Colony of New South Wales. In 1825, Van Diemen's Land became a separate British colony, administered separately from New South Wales, with a Legislative Council of six men appointed to advise the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land who had sole governance of the colony. The Council initially held meetings in a room adjacent to the old Government House that was located near to the present site of Franklin Square, but by 1841 they relocated meetings to the 'Long Room' (now the Members' Lounge) in the Customs House.[4]

In 1850, the British Parliament enacted the Australian Colonies Government Act, which gave Van Diemen's Land the right to elect its first representative government. The size of the Legislative Council was increased from six to 24. Eight members were appointed by the Governor, and 16 were elected by property owners. The new Legislative Council met for the first time in 1852, and by 1854 they had passed the Tasmanian Constitution Act, giving Van Diemen's Land responsible self-government and a new bicameral parliament. Queen Victoria granted Royal assent in 1855 and Van Diemen's Land became a self-governing colony. In the following year, 1856, one of the new parliament's first acts was to change the name of the colony from Van Diemen's Land to Tasmania.

Houses of Parliament

House of Assembly

The Tasmanian House of Assembly is the lower house of the Tasmanian Parliament. There are 25 members, with five members elected from each of the five divisions. At the next state election, provisionally scheduled for 2025, the size of the House will increase to 35 members, with seven members elected from the five divisions.[5][6] The divisions are: Bass, Braddon, Denison, Franklin, and Lyons. The Tasmanian House of Assembly electoral divisions share the same names and boundaries as the Australian House of Representatives divisions for Tasmania.

Members are elected using the Hare-Clark voting system of multi-member proportional representation for a term of up to 4 years.[lower-alpha 5]

Current distribution of seats

The current distribution of seats is:

Party Seats held Percentage Seat distribution
Liberal Party1144%                      
Labor Party832%                      
Independent312%                      
Tasmanian Greens28%                      
Independent Labor14%                      

Legislative Council

The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Tasmanian Parliament. It has 15 members, each elected from a single-member electoral division. The boundaries of the divisions are reviewed by tribunal every 9 years.[8]

Elections are conducted annually on a 6-year periodic cycle; 3 divisions will be up for election in May one year, then 2 divisions in May the following year and so on. As such, each member will normally serve a term of 6 years.

Current distribution of seats

The current distribution of seats (updated post May 2021 elections) is:[9]

Party Seats held Percentage Seat distribution
Labor Party426.7%              
Liberal Party426.7%              
Independents746.7%              

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The government had 13 seats and a 1-seat majority after the 2021 election, though in May 2023 Lara Alexander (Bass) and John Tucker (Lyons) resigned from the Liberal Party and left the government to sit on the crossbench as independents. They agreed to provide the government with confidence and supply.[1]
  2. ↑ David O'Byrne (Franklin) resigned from the Labor caucus on 23 August 2021, but remains a member of the Labor Party.
  3. ↑ Current independent MLCs: Rosemary Armitage (Launceston), Ruth Forrest (Murchison), Mike Gaffney (Mersey), Tania Rattray (McIntyre), Rob Valentine (Hobart), Meg Webb (Nelson).[2]
  4. ↑ Huon became vacant in January 2022 following the resignation of Bastian Seidel.
  5. ↑ Since 1976; prior to 1976, the maximum term of the Assembly was five years.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Adam Holmes (20 May 2023). "Rogue MPs Alexander and Tucker stand with Tasmanian premier to guarantee supply ahead of state budget". ABC News.
  2. ↑ "Members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council (as of 6 June 2019)" (PDF). Parliament of Tasmania. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  3. ↑ Constitution Act 1934 (Tas) s.10
  4. ↑ "Tasmanian Parliament". Parliament.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  5. ↑ "Expansion of House of Assembly Act 2022". legislation.tas.gov.au.
  6. ↑ Matt Maloney (17 November 2022). "Tasmania's House of Assembly to have 35 members in 2025 - if not sooner". The Examiner.
  7. ↑ Constitution Act 1972 (Tas) s.79
  8. ↑ "Tasmanian Legislative Council". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. 2006-09-08. Archived from the original on 2006-03-01.
  9. ↑ "Members of the Legislative Council" (PDF). Tasmanian Parliament. Parliament of Tasmania. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
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