The 1913 Tasmanian state election was held on Thursday, 23 January 1913 in the

Australian state The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

to elect 30 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 Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

. The election used the Hare-Clark

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

systemHouse of Assembly Elections

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 (as representative of the King), the Legislative Counci ...

. — six members were elected from each of five electorates. The 1913 election was called less than a year after the 1912 election. Following the 1912 election, the Liberal League held only a small majority in the House of Assembly, and

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Albert Solomon Albert Edgar Solomon (7 March 1876 – 5 October 1914) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He served as premier of Tasmania from 1912 to 1914, as leader of the Liberal Party. He died of tuberculosis a few months after leaving office as prem ...

was dependent on the support of Norman Cameron. In addition, Solomon was under threat from the same CLP unrest that had unseated his predecessor, Elliott Lewis. Labor sought to capitalise on Solomon's tenuous grasp on government, and moved a series of no-confidence motions against him, including a

censure A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a sp ...

motion over the Mount Lyell disaster. In an attempt to secure his position, Solomon requested and received from the

Governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Gov ...

an early dissolution of the House of Assembly, and an early election.Scott Bennett
Solomon, Albert Edgar (1876 - 1914)
''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 12,

Melbourne University Press Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. The press is currently a member of the Association of University Presses. History MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text ...

, 1990, p. 11. The result was the same as had been in the outgoing House of Assembly, except that Cameron lost his seat to another Liberal. Solomon's advantage, however, was short-lived. The Liberals lost a seat in a by-election, and

Joshua Whitsitt Joshua Thomas Hoskins Whitsitt (26 September 1869 – 14 September 1943) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1909 to 1922 and a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1922 to 1925 ...

's behaviour was becoming erratic. Solomon lost a no-confidence motion in April 1914, and the Governor denied his request for another dissolution, calling upon John Earle to form a Labor government.

Results

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

Distribution of seats

References

External links

Assembly Election Results, 1913

.
Report on General Election, 1913
Tasmanian Electoral Commission, 8 July 1913. {{Tasmanian elections Elections in Tasmania 1913 elections in Australia 1910s in Tasmania January 1913