Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The political highlight of the period was the early state election.There were also three Legislative Council seats up for ballots in May, the continuing charges against a Supreme court judge, the ongoing football stadium controversy, as well as significant concerns for the economy and education, and the demise of an infamous bronze statue. March State ElectionTasmania retained the nation's only Liberal government following the snap state election held a year early on 23 March.Premier Jeremy Rockcliff called the poll following the defection of two former liberals to the cross-bench, which had plunged the government into a minority of eleven in the twenty-five-seat House of Assembly.Pointedly, out of the seven MHAs who had resigned since 2021, six were Liberals.Despite Rockcliff's call for a "strong majority Liberal government," the election resulted in a continued minority Liberal government, with only fourteen seats in the expanded 35-seat parliament, which returned to its pre-1998 configuration of five 7-member electorates.Key reasons for the restoration of seats were the dearth of potential Cabinet members and high ministerial workloads in the smaller house.Labor secured two seats in each electorate for a total of ten, leaving a diverse crossbench of a record eleven that included five Greens, three from the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN), plus three left-leaning independents.The North-South chasm remained evident with most of the Liberals and all of the JLN members elected from the North, while most of the Greens and independents were elected from the South.It was especially notable that two Greens were elected in the Hobart seat of Clark, an unprecedented outcome in a single electorate.Sustainability-focused fisherman Craig Garland, who was the last elected in Braddon, was an exception as an independent standing against the ebbing Liberal tide in the North-West, while Cecily Rosol was atypical as a winning Green in Bass (TEC, 31 March).Ironically, the five Greens was the same number that had led the major parties to collude in reducing parliament to twenty-five seats in 1998 so as to raise quotas and deny opportunities for minor parties.Issues prominent during the campaign included health, especially access to bulkbilling general practitioners and ambulance ramping at hospitals, as well as housing,
DOI: 10.1111/ajph.13022
Author: Dain Bolwell
Institution: University of Tasmania
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,760
Funder: University of Tasmania
OpenAlex ID: W4402653613