The 1989 Tasmanian state election was held on 13 May 1989 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 ...

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 ...

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, the Tasmanian House of Assembly (the lower house), and T ...

. — seven members were elected from each of five electorates. The quota required for election was 12.5% in each division. The incumbent

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 ...

government headed by Robin Gray hoped to secure a third term in office. The Labor Party was headed by Michael Field. The Green independents were headed by

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasman ...

. 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 ...

contested all electorates except Braddon. Green candidates were run in all electorates where they previously only fielded candidates in the south. Prior to the election the Liberals held 19 of the 35 seats in parliament. The Labor Party held 14 and there were two Green independents. To date, this is the last election that a Premier, in Gray, had fought a second consecutive election.

Results

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

Distribution of seats

Aftermath

After the election the

s had lost majority by one seat and the Greens gained the balance of power. The Labor Party had suffered a minor swing against them, losing one seat 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 ...

to the Greens. The Greens succeeded in electing one member to every electorate. This election victory would help form the official party of today's

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 ...

topped the poll in Denison and was first member elected. Their primary vote of 17.1% was a record for Green movements and wouldn't be beaten until the 2002 Tasmanian election. Labor Party leader Michael Field formed a loose alliance with the Greens which became known as the

Labor–Green Accord The Labor–Green Accord was a 1989 political agreement between the Labor Party and the Tasmanian Greens (then called the Green Independents) to form government in the Australian state of Tasmania after the 1989 general election had resulted in ...

. The Liberals determined to stay in government; tried to call a second election. Gray started a petition which attracted many signatures.

Edmund Rouse Edmund Alexander Rouse (2 February 1926 – 28 July 2002)
Don Woolford, ''AAP Gene ...

attempted to bribe newly elected Labor member Jim Cox with $110,000 if he would

cross the floor In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...

to support Gray instead of Field. Cox refused and reported the bribe to police. Rouse served 18 months in gaol and allegations surfaced that the Liberal party was involved. A later inquiry concluded there was no evidence Gray was connected to the bribe. After the alliance was formed, the Greens joined with Labor to vote down the Liberals' choice for

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. Now realising he faced certain defeat on the floor of the legislature, Gray resigned and Michael Field became Premier.

References