Tasmanian 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. It sits in
Parliament House in the state capital,
Hobart.
The Assembly has 25 members, five members each coming from one of the five electorates. These are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by a form of proportional representation using the single-transferable vote (STV), known as the
Hare-Clark system.
Most legislation is initiated in the House of Assembly. The party or coalition with the most seats in the lower house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party subsequently becomes
Premier of Tasmania, and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. As Australian political parties traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the governing party will pass through the House of Assembly.
The House of Assembly was first established in
1856, 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 was divided into 24 members; Hobart having five members, Launceston had three members, each other electorate returned one member.
In
1906 the old electoral system was abolished and instead the state would be divided into five equally represented multi member 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. Leading to the current 25 member parliament. The reduction has been criticised by minor parties, particularly the
Greens, as an attempt to reduce their influence. However since the
2002 election the Green vote has increased and they now hold four seats.
| Year | Members |
|---|
| 1856| 30 |
| 1870| 32 |
| 1885| 36 |
| 1893| 37 |
| 1900| 35 |
| 1906| 30 |
| 1959| 35 |
| 1998| 25 |
|
*
Bass*
Braddon*
Denison*
Franklin*
Lyons*
Parliaments of the Australian states and territories*
Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly*
Tasmania Parliament Website*
Tasmania Parliament History
