The Tasmanian Government is the democratic administrative authority of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of 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 A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony adm ...

, the lower house of the

Parliament of Tasmania 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), ...

, is invited by the governor of Tasmania to form government. The

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

is the

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 ...

. Since 8 April 2022, the premier of Tasmania has been Jeremy Rockliff, leader of the Liberal Party. The current ministry of Tasmania is the Rockliff ministry, formed on 8 April 2022 and comprising eight of the 13 Liberal members in the House of Assembly and one of the four in the Legislative Council.

Constitutional framework

Tasmania is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

based on the model of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Legislative power rests with the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...

, which consists of the governor of Tasmania (the sovereign), and the two chambers: the Legislative Council and the

. Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, which consists of the governor and senior ministers, and informally called the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. In practice, executive power is exercised by the

upon the advice of the Cabinet, who are appointed by the governor, but who hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the House of Assembly. Judicial power is exercised by the

Supreme Court of Tasmania The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the middle level, with both an appellate jurisdiction over lower courts, and d ...

and a system of subordinate courts. As with all states, upon

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

, Tasmania accepted the authority of the federal

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established following passage of the '' Judiciary Act 1903''. ...

to overrule the state judiciary.

Current ministry

Tasmanian government agencies

The Tasmanian Government delivers services, determines policy, and issues regulations through a number of agencies grouped under areas of portfolio responsibility. Each portfolio is led by a Secretary, who reports to one or more government ministers, a member of Parliament. there are eight

government department Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло� ...

s: * Department of Education * Department of Health * Department of Justice * Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management * Department of Premier and Cabinet *

Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment The Tasmanian Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) is the government department of the Tasmanian Government responsible for supporting primary industry development, the protection of Tasmania's natural environment, effective lan ...

Department of State Growth The Tasmanian Department of State Growth is the Tasmanian Government department with responsibility for driving state growth and to implement the government's long-term plan for creating jobs, growth, and opportunities for all Tasmanians, in A ...

* Department of Treasury and Finance A range of other agencies support the functions of these departments.

State-owned businesses

The Government of Tasmania also owns and operates a number of state-owned companies: * Aurora Energy: electricity and gas retailer. *

Sustainable Timber Tasmania Sustainable Timber Tasmania (formerly Forestry Tasmania) is a government business enterprise wholly owned by the Government of Tasmania, Australia. It is responsible for the management of public production forest in Tasmania, which is about ...

: the manager of public forests and plantations for logging, sawmilling and woodchipping. *

Hydro Tasmania Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) or The Hydro, is the trading name of the Hydro-Electric Corporation, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator i ...

: a large generator of electricity, management of hydroelectric schemes. Also owns a mainland Australian energy retailer, Momentum Energy.
Tasmanian Irrigation
tasked with the planning, construction and maintenance of the Tasmanian Irrigation Schemes culminating pipes, dams and pumping stations. * Metro Tasmania: a public transportation company, running busses in the metropolitan areas of the state. * Motor Accidents Insurance Board (MAIB): public insurance resulting from car accidents. *

Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

: operates the tourism venture at Port Arthur, maintains the ruins of the gaol and historic site. * Public Trustee: an independent trustee organisation. * Tascorp: management of the other public companies' finances and government investment. * TasRail: rail freight transportation, railway management. * TasNetworks: electricity transmission and distribution. *

TasPorts The Tasmanian Ports Corporation, also known as TasPorts, is the Tasmanian Government state owned corporation that has responsibility for the operation and management of all ports in Tasmania, Australia. TasPorts was created for the purpose of ...

: port management and stevedoring. * Tasracing: the operator of Tasmania's horse and dog racing venues, management of betting. *

TT-Line Company TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, better known by its trading name Spirit of Tasmania is a company which has been operating ferries from mainland Australia to Tasmania since July 1985. The company was separated from the Tasmanian Government's Depart ...

: operates the Bass Strait ferries.

Other levels of government

Federal representation of Tasmania

As a state of Australia, Tasmania is represented in the federal House of Representatives and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Tasmania has five representative in the federal House of Representatives for the electoral divisions of

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 ...

, Braddon, Denison, Franklin, and

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 t ...

. Tasmania also has twelve Senators in line with other states.

Local government in Tasmania

29 local government elections are conducted under the Local Government Act using the Hare-Clark voting system of multi-member proportional representation. Elections for mayor, deputy mayor and half the councillor positions are held during September and October in each uneven numbered year. These include six cities (three in greater

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, one covering each of Launceston, Burnie, and Devonport) and twenty-three municipalities. The largest council (by number of eligible voters) is the City of Launceston and the smallest council is the Municipality of Flinders (which serves

Flinders Island Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Flinders Island was the place where the last remnants of aboriginal Tasmanian population were exiled by the colo ...

and the surrounds, with just over 800 electors)

References

External links

Government of Tasmania websiteThe Constitution of Tasmania
in

AustLII The Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) is an institution operated jointly by the Faculties of Law of the University of Technology Sydney and the University of New South Wales. Its public policy purpose is to improve access to just ...

(link ineffective)
Constitution Act 1934 (Tas)
as enacted {{Authority control Government of Tasmania