Tasmania

About Parliament | History | State symbols | Chartist checkbox | Did you know?

About Parliament

• Tasmania's Parliament has two Houses. The Upper House is the Legislative Council. The Lower House is the House of Assembly. There are important differences between the two Houses. The government of the day is formed in the Lower House. The Upper House is often called 'the House of Review'.
• There are currently 15 Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs), each from single-member electorates. Members of the Legislative Council are elected for six year terms. Elections are held annually on a rotational basis, with three Members elected one year and then two the next, and so on.
• There are 25 Members of the House of Assembly (MHAs). Five are elected from each of five electoral districts. MHAs serve up to four years in office.
• Members of the Legislative Council are elected using a preferential voting system. Members of the House of Assembly are elected using a type of proportional representation known as the Hare-Clark system.
• Voting in Tasmanian State elections is compulsory for all citizens aged 18 years or over who have lived in Tasmania without a break for at least six months.

History

• The second permanent European settlement in Australia started at Risdon Cove near Hobart in 1803.
• Hobart was founded in 1804 and the first Lieutenant-Governor was Colonel David Collins.
• Until 1856, the colony was known as Van Diemen's Land named by Abel Tasman in 1642. Van Diemen had been a Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
• There were two colonies in Van Diemen's Land, the north and south. Both were run from Sydney. The two colonies became one in 1812.
• Van Diemen's Land became a separate colony with its own governing body in 1825. Lieutenant-Governor Colonel George Arthur was advised by the first Legislative Council of six men chosen by the Governor.
• In 1850, the British Parliament passed the Australian Colonies Government Act. This Act gave Van Diemen’s Land its first representative government. The membership of the Legislative Council was increased to 24. Eight of these members were chosen by the Governor and 16 were elected. However, the only people who could vote then were adult men who owned land or paid rent in the colony.
• The new Legislative Council met for the first time in 1852.
• In 1854, the Legislative Council passed the Constitution Act, which gave the colony responsible government and a bicameral parliament. It was given Royal Assent in 1855.
• In 1856, the name of the colony was changed to Tasmania and elections were held for the new parliament. The first Tasmanian Parliament opened in December, with Mr WTN Champ as the first Premier, but it was not until 1900 that all adult men acquired the right to vote.
• The new Legislative Council had 15 Members. The newly formed House of Assembly had 30 Members from 24 electoral districts. Each district had one Member except Hobart, which had five, and Launceston, which had two.
• By 1903, all adult men and women in Tasmania could vote in House of Assembly elections but it was not until 1968 that the same rights were introduced for Legislative Council elections.
• The small population of Tasmania was a concern for Tasmanians during the constitutional conventions of 1898–99. Tasmania did not want the new federal Constitution to favour the larger, more populated States after federation. Unlike New South Wales and Victoria, the Tasmanian Parliament wanted to give the Senate of the new federation the power to alter Money Bills. Tasmania also wanted the new Commonwealth Government to take over the debts of the States.

State symbols

	The Tasmanian Coat of Arms was granted in 1917 by King George V of England. It shows two Tasmanian tigers supporting a shield topped by a lion. The Latin motto ‘Ubertas et Fidelitas’ means Fruitfulness and Faithfulness.
	The Tasmanian flag became official in 1975, but its design is the same as that of the Tasmanian flag of 1875. It has the blue ensign with the Union Flag in the corner and the State Badge.
	The badge, approved by the Colonial Office in 1875, has a red lion on a white disc. The lion shows Tasmania's historical ties with England.
	The Tasmanian Parliament House is located on the edge of Hobart's city centre. It was built between 1834 and 1840 in the Georgian Colonial style. The building is made of sandstone and was meant to be the Customs House and architect's offices.
	In 1962, the Blue Gum was declared the State Flower of Tasmania.

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Tasmania (Self-government from 1856)

Did you know?

• Tasmania is the only State to use the same electorates for both Federal and State Lower House elections.
• To prevent election results from being biased by donkey votes, ballot papers for the House of Assembly are printed using the Robson Rotation.
• The number of representatives that each State and Territory is allowed in the Commonwealth House of Representatives is determined by their population. Although Tasmania's population entitles it to four representatives, it has five. This is because section 127 of the Australian Constitution says that each of the six original states should have at least five representatives.