Tasmanian House of Assembly

House of Assembly
House of Assembly
49th Parliament
Type
Type	Lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania
History
Founded	2 December 1856; 164 years ago
Leadership
Speaker	Mark Shelton, Liberal ; since 22 June 2021
Chairman of Committees	Jacquie Petrusma, Liberal
Leader of the House	Michael Ferguson, Liberal
Government Whip	John Tucker, Liberal
Structure
Seats	25
Political groups	Government ; Liberal (13) ; Opposition ; Labor (9) ; Crossbench ; Greens (2) ; Independent (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Hare-Clark
Last general election	1 May 2021
Next general election	2025
Meeting place
	House of Assembly Chamber,; Parliament House, Hobart,; Tasmania, Australia
Website
	Tas House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart.

The Assembly has 25 members, elected for a term of up to four years, ^[a] with five members being elected in each of five electorates, called divisions. Each division has approximately the same number of electors. Voting for the House of Assembly is by a form of proportional representation using the single transferable vote (STV), known as the Hare-Clark electoral system. By having multiple members for each division, the voting intentions of the electors are more closely represented in the House of Assembly.

Since 1998, the quota for election in each division, after distribution of preferences, has been 16.7% (one-sixth). Under the preferential proportional voting system in place, the lowest-polling candidates are eliminated, and their votes distributed as preferences to the remaining candidates. If a candidate achieves a quota, they are declared elected and any surplus votes (those over and above quota) are redistributed according to the next back-up preference marked by the voter.

This system not only makes it all but certain that the division's minority party wins at least one seat, but makes it easier for minor parties to enter the legislature and possibly exert influence through the balance of power (the need for a working majority in the assembly). In the present House of Assembly, winning 15 seats—only two more than necessary for a majority—is considered a landslide victory.^[2] The last election for the House of Assembly took place on 1 May 2021.

Most legislation is initiated in the House of Assembly. The party or coalition with a majority of seats in the House of Assembly is invited by the Governor of Tasmania to form Government. The leader of that party becomes the Premier of Tasmania, and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. As Australian politicians traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the governing party will be passed by the House of Assembly.

Unlike other Australian state legislatures, the House of Assembly is elected from multimember districts while the Legislative Council is elected from single-member districts. The reverse is the case in most of the rest of Australia; that is, the lower house is elected from single-member districts while the upper house is elected from multi-member districts or at large.

History[]

Year	Members
1856	30
1870	32
1885	36
1893	37
1900	35
1906	30
1959	35
1998	25

The House of Assembly was first established in 1856, under legislation passed by the British Parliament creating the independent self-governing Colony of Tasmania. The Legislative Council had already existed since 1852. The first elections for the House of Assembly were held in October 1856. The House first met on 2 December 1856 in the area that is now the parliamentary members lounge. The first House had members elected to represent 24 electorates. Hobart had five members, Launceston had three members, and the 22 other electorates each had one member.

In 1906 the old electoral system was abolished. Instead, the state was divided into five equally represented multi-member electorates corresponding to the state's five federal electorates. Each electorate would return six members using the Hare-Clark proportional representation system.

In 1959 the number of members per electorate was increased to seven. In 1998 it was reduced to five, resulting in the current 25-member parliament. The reduction has been criticised by the Greens, as an attempt to reduce their influence. However, since the 2002 election the Green vote has increased and they currently hold three seats. In 2010, the leaders of the three main parties—Labor, the Liberals and the Greens—moved to increase the number of seats in the House back to 35 for the next state election. The three leaders signed an agreement on 2 September to submit the proposal for public consideration before taking a set of resolutions to their respective party rooms.^[3] The proposal, however, was dropped in February 2011 when the Liberal Party withdrew its support for the plan, citing budget circumstances.^[4]

Unlike most state parliaments in Australia, by-elections are very rare in the House of Assembly. Since 1917, casual vacancies have usually been filled by a simple recount of votes.^[5] One of the few by-elections in recent memory occurred in 1980, when the Supreme Court ordered a new election in Denison because three Labor members had exceeded spending limits.^[6]

Electorates[]

Tasmanian House of Assembly and Commonwealth House of Representatives electoral divisions

With five members each, the five electoral divisions of the Tasmanian House of Assembly are:

The electorates of the Tasmanian House of Assembly have the same boundaries and names as the electorates for the federal House of Representatives.^[7]

Members[]

Current distribution of seats[]

The distribution of seats as a result of the 2021 House of Assembly elections was:

Party	Seats held	Percentage
Liberal Party	13	52%
Labor Party	9	36%
Tasmanian Greens	2	8%
Independent	1	4%

The current distribution of seats is:

Electorate	Seats held
Bass
Braddon
Clark
Franklin
Lyons

	Labor
	Liberal
	Green
	Independent

Notes[]

^ Since 1976; prior to 1976, the maximum term of the Assembly was five years.^[1]

References[]

^ Constitution Act 1972 (Tas) s.79
^ Green, Antony. 2014 Tasmanian election preview. ABC News, 2014-01-17.
^ Tassie set to get extra politicians, news.com.au, 2 September 2010.
^ Caruana, Patrick: Deal to increase Tas parliament scuttled, The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 February 2011.
^ House of Assembly Elections, Tasmanian Parliamentary Library
^ Report on Parliamentary Elections 1978 to 1980 Archived 30 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Parliament of Tasmania, 1980.
^ https://www.tec.tas.gov.au/House_of_Assembly_Elections/index.html

External links[]

[2] Since 1976; prior to 1976, the maximum term of the Assembly was five years.^[1]

[1] Constitution Act 1972 (Tas) s.79

[3] Green, Antony. 2014 Tasmanian election preview. ABC News, 2014-01-17.

[4] Tassie set to get extra politicians, news.com.au, 2 September 2010.

[5] Caruana, Patrick: Deal to increase Tas parliament scuttled, The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 February 2011.

[6] House of Assembly Elections, Tasmanian Parliamentary Library

[7] Report on Parliamentary Elections 1978 to 1980 Archived 30 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Parliament of Tasmania, 1980.

[8] ttps://www.tec.tas.gov.au/House_of_Assembly_Elections/index.html

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show v t Members of the Parliament of Tasmania
House of Assembly	1856–1861 1861–1862 1862–1866 1866–1871 1871–1872 1872–1877 1877–1882 1882–1886 1886–1891 1891–1893 1893–1897 1897–1900 1900–1903 1903–1906 1906–1909 1909–1912 1912–1913 1913–1916 1916–1919 1919–1922 1922–1925 1925–1928 1928–1931 1931–1934 1934–1937 1937–1941 1941–1946 1946–1948 1948–1950 1950–1955 1955–1956 1956–1959 1959–1964 1964–1969 1969–1972 1972–1976 1976–1979 1979–1982 1982–1986 1986–1989 1989–1992 1992–1996 1996–1998 1998–2002 2002–2006 2006–2010 2010–2014 2014–2018 2018–2021 2021–2025
Legislative Council	1879–1885 1885–1891 1891–1897 1897–1903 1903–1909 1909–1915 1915–1921 1921–1927 1927–1933 1933–1939 1939–1945 1945–1951 1951–1957 1957–1963 1963–1969 1969–1975 1975–1981 1981–1987 1987–1993 1993–1999 1999–2005 2002–2006 2005–2011 2006–2010 2010–2014 2011–2017 2017–2023

show v t Government of Tasmania
Executive	Monarchy Governor Premier Deputy Premier Cabinet Police
Legislative	Parliament House of Assembly Legislative Council Electoral divisions MHAs MLCs President of the Legislative Council Speaker of the House of Assembly Opposition Leader
Judicial	Supreme Court Magistrates Court Coroners Court

show v t Elections and referendums in Tasmania
General elections	1856 1900 1903 1906 1909 1912 1913 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1941 1946 1948 1950 1955 1956 1959 1964 1969 1972 1976 1979 1982 1986 1989 1992 1996 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2021 Next
Legislative Council elections	... 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Referendums	1898 1899 1968 1981