1996 Tasmanian state election
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The 1996 Tasmanian state election was held on 24 February 1996 in the
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
of
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
to elect 35 members of the
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 or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...
. The election used the Hare-Clark
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
system — seven members were elected from each of five electorates. The quota required for election was 12.5% in each division. The
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
, led by
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 ...
, hoped to secure another term in government. The Opposition
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
party was headed by Michael Field and 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 ...
were headed by
Christine Milne Christine Anne Milne (; born 14 May 1953) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania. She was the leader of the parliamentary caucus of the Australian Greens from 2012 to 2015. Milne stepped down as leader on 6 May 2015, ...
. Prior to the election, the Liberal Party held 19 of the 35 seats, a majority in the House of Assembly.
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
held 11 and 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 ...
held five. Before the election, Groom and Field both promised that they would only govern in majority.


Extremely Greedy 40% Extra Party

The Extremely Greedy 40% Extra Party was a single-issue political party which contested the election. It was formed to oppose what was seen as an excessive pay rise the
Tasmanian Parliament The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the Governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly (the lower house), and ...
had awarded to itself. In October 1993, Tasmanian parliamentarians voted to link their pay to 90% of an equivalent federal parliamentarian. This resulted in an immediate 40% pay rise. The legislation took about an hour or so to pass through both houses of Parliament. In the
Lower House A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...
, the 19 Liberal and 11 Labor members voted for the legislation and the 5 Greens voted against. The
Upper House An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...
suspended Standing Orders to speed the passage of the
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
. The Extremely Greedy Party was formed in 1993 with an intention to stand candidates at the 1996 election in all electorates. As the increase was made in the early part of Groom's term (hoping the electorate would forget), the strategy of the party was simply to ensure the electorate were reminded of the earlier pay rise incident through the party name being on the ballot papers. Bumper stickers were placed on cars around the state reading "40% never forget" although politicians' wages had been on freeze for some time and the rise was in keeping with inflation. Six months after the election, the Tasmanian Parliament passed a bill to refer the matter of setting Tasmanian Parliamentary salaries to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission (TIC). The decision of the commission was to reduce the state MP salary to 83% of a federal parliamentarian based on the ratio of average Tasmanian wages to average Australian mainland wages.


Results

The election ended with a swing against the
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
s. A fall of over 10% caused them to lose their parliamentary majority. The Liberals lost four sitting members;
Carole Cains Carole Susan Cains (born 29 November 1943) is an Australian former politician. She was born in Derby, England. In 1992, she was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing Braddon for the Liberal Party. She was defeated in 1996, but ...
, John Barker, Brian Davison and
Graeme Page Graeme Reginald Page (born 14 February 1943) is a former Australian politician. He was born in Launceston, Tasmania. In 1976, he was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing Wilmot for the Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any ...
. The Liberals polled strongly in Braddon and Bass but poorly in
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
. Labor polled well in the Hobart area ( Denison and Franklin). The Tasmanian Greens suffered a statewide swing of over two percent against them and lost one of their seats (
Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...
in Bass) but gained the balance of power because Di Hollister narrowly held onto her seat in Braddon, while the party received a high vote in Denison. The Extremely Greedy 40% Extra Party polled 0.8% of the vote, well behind winning a seat, but its appearance on the ballot paper succeeded in reminding voters of the previous wage increases. Independent
Bruce Goodluck Bruce John Goodluck (14 May 1933 – 24 October 2016) was an Australian politician in both the federal and Tasmanian state parliaments. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, he was a company director before serving on Clarence Municipal Council from 197 ...
narrowly won a seat at the expense of the Liberals'
Paul Harriss Andrew Paul Harriss (11 August 1954 – 1 October 2022) was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from March 2014 to February 2016, representing the electorate of Franklin. Harriss was an in ...
. The
Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
ran four candidates in Franklin but were unsuccessful at winning a seat.


Primary vote by division


Distribution of seats


Aftermath

Labor had the numbers to enter
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
with the Greens, but Field refused to go back on his word to only govern in majority. This left a Liberal minority government as the only realistic option. Groom was not willing to break his own promise to only govern in majority, and was replaced as Liberal leader and premier by
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 w ...
, who reached an informal agreement with the Greens. This election was the last time that Tasmanians voted 35 members into parliament because it was reduced to 25 members in 1998.


See also

* Candidates of the 1996 Tasmanian state election *
Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1996–1998 This is a list of members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, elected at the 1996 state election: : ALP member Michael Field resigned in early 1997. Mike Gard was elected as his replacement on 15 July. : Liberal member Roger Groom resigned ...


References


Tasmanian Parliamentary Library: 1996 election results


Further reading

* (1994) ''Democracy through education, education through participation : a presentation to the Board of Inquiry into the Size & Constitution of the Tasmanian Parliament''. {{Tasmanian elections Elections in Tasmania 1996 elections in Australia 1990s in Tasmania February 1996 events in Australia