The Tasmania First Party is a minor

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n political party which operates exclusively in the state of

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

. The party was begun by members of the Tasmanian Firearms Owners Association in response to the Howard government's 1996

National Firearms Agreement The National Firearms Agreement (NFA), also sometimes called the National Agreement on Firearms, the National Firearms Agreement and Buyback Program, or the Nationwide Agreement on Firearms, was an agreement concerning firearm control made by Au ...

, which the party called a "unilateral imposition of unnecessarily restrictive firearm legislation, following the unique tragedy of

Martin Bryant Martin John Bryant (born 7 May 1967) is a convicted Australian mass shooting, mass shooter who murdered 35 people and injured 23 others in the Port Arthur massacre (Australia), Port Arthur massacre, one of the world's deadliest ...

's Port Arthur protest'' ic'." Tasmania First contested its first election in August 1998, the Tasmanian state election. The party received 5.1% of the primary vote for the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

but failed to win any seats. Tasmania First subsequently contested the Australian federal elections in 1998 and 2001, as well as Tasmanian state elections in 2002 and 2006, but its primary vote in these elections was very modest compared to the party's initial effort in 1998. The

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...

(AEC) deregistered Tasmania First as a registered political party on 28 April 2006, because the party had not contested a federal election in over four years(an AEC requirement, which must be met if parties are to retain their registration at the national level). In August 1998, '' The Examiner'' of Launceston referred to Tasmania First as "a sort of local mirror image of One Nation". Tasmania First called this "defamatory" and demanded a retraction, threatening legal proceedings against the newspaper. In 2001 the party declared itself "a natural partner to

Brian Harradine Richard William Brian Harradine (9 January 1935 – 14 April 2014) was an Australian politician who served as an independent member of the Australian Senate, from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving indep ...

in the Senate, where we have many policies in common, being a State based party with the interests of Tasmania our first priority." Tasmania First fielded four candidates in the

2006 Tasmanian state election An election for the House of Assembly (lower house) was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 18 March 2006, the same day as the South Australian elections. The Labor Party led by Premier Paul Lennon, won a third successive majority gov ...

; one in

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, one in

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

, and two in Denison. Note: The party should not be confused with the

First Party of Tasmania Secessionism in Tasmania has been proposed several times throughout Tasmania's history. Pre-federation Before Federation, there was a lot of support for Tasmania joining the Commonwealth, though there was some opposition. The opposition argued th ...

, a minor political organisation whose policies include the secession of Tasmania from Australia.

References

External links

Tasmania First Party
s old website, in the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Regionalist parties in Australia Political parties in Tasmania 2006 disestablishments in Australia Defunct political parties in Australia Political parties disestablished in 2006 {{Australia-party-stub

See also

References

External links