The Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division), commonly known as the Tasmanian Liberals, is the state division of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. The party currently governs in Tasmania. The party is part of the federal Liberal Party of Australia which governs nationally in

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

with the

National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Au ...

History

In 1904, Elliott Lewis established the National League, which changed its name to the Progressive League in 1907. While Lewis became Premier of the state in 1909 under this banner, the League itself shortly disappeared. Its successor was the

Tasmanian Liberal League The Tasmanian Liberal League was a political party in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was founded in 1909 and merged into the Nationalist Party in 1917. During its existence it formed a two-party system in the Parliament of Tasmania with th ...

, founded later that year in collaboration with the Tasmanian Farmers and Stockowners Association. In 1917, the League affiliated with the

Australian Liberal Union The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fus ...

. Following the removal of

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

from the leadership of the Labor Party, the League merged again to become the Tasmanian National Federation. It shared government with the Labor Party from 1912 to 1923, and then from 1928 to 1934. Despite the establishment of the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...

, the party continued using the name National until 1941 when it changed its name to the 'United Australia and National Organisation'. In 1945 the party came under the umbrella of the new Liberal Party of Australia. The Tasmanian Division of the party was formed at a meeting in Hobart on 13 February 1945. The first state candidates stood at the 1946 election, most of whom were ex-servicemen. The organisation recruited them by arguing that in the services they had been fighting for freedom, and it was now their duty 'to finish the job'. The party first formed a government in Tasmania 1969. In 1982, Robin Gray was elected on a platform of commitment to building the Gordon-below-Franklin hydro-electric power scheme. Continual blockades from the Labor Federal Government lead to the Premier threatening to secede from the Commonwealth if any further intervention was taken. Despite the lack of success in the Tasmanian Dam Case, the Gray government won the 1986 state election and held onto power until 1989. The party was elected at the 1992 state election with

Ray Groom Raymond John Groom (born 3 September 1944) is an Australian lawyer and former sportsman and politician, representing the Liberal Party in the Federal Parliament 1975–84 and the Tasmanian Parliament 1986–2001. He was a Federal and state min ...

as leader, however at the subsequent 1996 election following a promise not to form minority government Groom resigned.

Tony Rundle Anthony Maxwell Rundle AO (born 5 March 1939 in Scottsdale, Tasmania) was the Premier of the Australian State of Tasmania from 18 March 1996 to 14 September 1998. He succeeded Ray Groom and was succeeded himself by Jim Bacon. He is a Liberal ...

was quick to replace Groom as Liberal leader and reached an informal agreement with the

Tasmanian Greens The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign. They form a part of the Australian Greens. The party ...

to secure support. At the 2014 state election,

Will Hodgman William Edward Felix Hodgman (born 20 April 1969) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who has been the High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore since February 2021. He was the 45th Premier of Tasmania and a member for the Divisio ...

secured a majority of seats following a 16-year incumbent Labor government led by

Lara Giddings Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings (born 14 November 1972) is a former Australian politician who was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014, the first woman to hold the position. Born in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, she ...

. The party was re-elected at the 2018 state election. Hodgman retired from politics in January 2020 and was succeeded by Peter Gutwein as party leader and Premier. On 22 March 2021, lower house MP Sue Hickey announced that she would quit the Liberal Party and sit as an independent, slamming the state Liberals as "unable to accommodate strong women" after being told by Gutwein that she would not be endorsed for the next election. The Liberal government lost its majority and plunged into minority government. The party was re-elected at the May 2021 state election and regained majority government status. In April 2022, Gutwein retired from politics and was succeeded by his deputy

Jeremy Rockliff Jeremy Page Rockliff (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the 47th Premier of Tasmania since April 2022, after the resignation of Peter Gutwein as Premier. He has been a Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian ...

as party leader and Premier.

Organisation

Each division of the Liberal Party is autonomous, with a unique organisational structure and their own constitutions.

Premiers

Seven parliamentary Liberal leaders have served as

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of Ta ...

Angus Bethune Angus Bethune may refer to: * Angus Bethune (fur trader) (1783–1858), Canadian fur trader * Angus Bethune (politician) Sir Walter Angus Bethune (10 September 1908 – 22 August 2004) was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian Ho ...

(1969–1972), Robin Gray (1982–1989),

(1992–1996),

(1996–1998),

(2014–2020), Peter Gutwein (2020–2022) and

(2022–present).

Deputy Premiers

Seven parliamentary Liberal deputy leaders have served as Deputy Premier of Tasmania:

Max Bingham Sir Eardley Max Bingham (18 March 1927 – 30 November 2021), was an Australian politician. He was Deputy Premier and Opposition Leader of Tasmania, who represented the electorate of Denison for the Liberal Party in the Tasmanian House of As ...

(1982–1984),

Geoff Pearsall Geoffrey Alan "Geoff" Pearsall (born 15 September 1946) is a former Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1969 until 1988 and as Leader of the Opposition (1979–198 ...

(1984–1988),

(1988–1989), John Beswick (1992–1996),

Sue Napier Suzanne Deidre Napier (née Braid; 1 January 1948 – 5 August 2010) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Division of Bass. Napier was first elected in 1992 and was re-elected in 1996, 1998, ...

(1996–1998),

(2014–2022) and Michael Ferguson (2022–present).

List of parliamentary leaders

* Neil Campbell (1945–1950) *

Rex Townley Reginald 'Rex' Colin Townley CMG (15 April 1904 – 3 May 1982) was an Australian politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party in Tasmania from 1950 to 1956. He also played first-class cricket for the Tasmanian cricket team in his young ...

(1950–1956) * Tim Jackson (1956–1960) *

(1960–1972) *

(1972–1979) *

(1979–1981) * Robin Gray (1981–1991) *

(1991–1996) *

(1996–1999) *

(1999–2001) * Bob Cheek (2001–2002) *

Rene Hidding Marinus Theodoor "Rene" Hidding (born 5 February 1953) is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member for the Division of Lyons in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1996 until his resignation in 2019. From 2002 until 2006 he was ...

(2002–2006) *

(2006–2020) * Peter Gutwein (2020–2022) *

(2022–present)

State election results

Federal election results

References

External links

Tasmanian Liberals
Official website
Liberal Party of Australia
Federal party official site
Liberal Party of Australia ephemera
digitised and held by the National Library of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberal Party Of Australia (Tasmanian Division)