Tasmanian state election, 2010
Encyclopedia
The 2010 Tasmanian state election was held on 20 March 2010 to elect members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly
. The 12-year incumbent Labor
government, led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett
, won a fourth consecutive term against the Liberal
opposition, led by Will Hodgman
, after Labor formed a minority government
with the support of the Greens
.
The election was conducted by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, an independent body answerable to Parliament. As in past Tasmania state elections, the proportional Hare-Clark system was used to allocate the 25 seats in the House. The Commission announced that there were 357,315 enrolled electors at the close of rolls. A total of 89 candidates nominated for election.
for Tasmania, with the next election scheduled to be held on 20 March 2010. It was noted by ABC
election analyst Antony Green
that the date was the same as the already-legislated South Australian election, and that this may have an effect on media coverage of both elections. The draft legislation for the bill was referred to the Select Committee on the Working Arrangements of Parliament in October 2009, although Bartlett confirmed that the government was committed to the 20 March election date despite the fixed-term legislation not being enacted.
On 12 February 2010, the Premier visited the Governor of Tasmania, Peter Underwood, to request that he dissolve the House of Assembly and issue the writs for the election. The Governor agreed to the following election dates:
, and would be broadcast nationally by Sky News
. At the time of the announcement, Mr Hodgman was not aware of the debate and Greens leader Nick McKim was not invited.
On 10 March, around 100 forest workers protested outside the Greens official campaign launch.
On 12 March, two Liberal and two Labor ex-premiers—Paul Lennon
, Michael Field
, Robin Gray
and Tony Rundle
—issued a joint press release warning voters of the dangers of minority government with the Greens holding the balance of power.
In the week before the election, the Labor party distributed leaflets alleging that the Greens had a plan to legalise heroin and give "violent criminals" the right to vote
. In addition, 20,000 automated phone calls (robocall
s) were made to residents of Braddon repeating these claims about the Greens, although Labor ended the campaign after a public backlash.
On 15 March, David Bartlett said he would resign if the Liberal party won more seats than Labor.
Source: Tasmanian Electoral Commission
systems meaning that some incumbent members on both sides of parliament were defeated by newcomers from their own party. The only inter-party battles for a seat during the counting process were between the Greens and Liberals for the final seat in Braddon (won by the Greens), and between independent Andrew Wilkie
and the Liberals for the final seat in Denison (won by the Liberals).
Attention was then focussed on the positions of the parties. Greens leader Nick McKim declared he was willing to make a deal with either party, whilst Labor leader David Bartlett
and Liberal leader Will Hodgman
insisted they would stick to promises made before the election not to enter into any deals. Bartlett had also pledged that whoever won the most seats or, in the event of a tie, the most votes would have the right to form a government, and both leaders now claimed this meant that Hodgman had the right to form a ministry. On 1 April, the Labor caucus unanimously agreed to relinquish power, and Bartlett then advised the Governor that Hodgman should be sent for. Former federal Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson
called Bartlett "silly" for not negotiating with the Greens.
On 7 April the results were declared, and under the Constitution Act 1934, the Governor of Tasmania, Peter Underwood, had seven days to commission a Government. Ultimately, after speaking to the Liberal and Labor leaders, he recommissioned Bartlett. He released detailed reasons for his decision, saying that Bartlett did not have the right to promise power to Hodgman, and that Hodgman was not in a position to form stable government. He regarded as irrelevant the position of the Greens, regarding it as a matter for the Assembly as a whole to test or maintain support for the ministry. Hodgman accused Bartlett of breaking his promise to hand over power, noting that in a letter to the Governor, Bartlett had contradicted a public statement made on 1 April where he had said he would not move any vote of no confidence against a Liberal government. However, Professor Richard Herr of the University of Tasmania
believed the Governor's stance was a correct one, as it served the interests of stable government. Constitutional law expert Michael Stokes disagreed, saying too high a bar had been set for the Liberals and Labor had not proven it could deliver stable government in the new Assembly.
On the day before the decision was finalised, the Greens indicated that as no party had shown a willingness to negotiate a deal with them, they would neither initiate nor support a vote of no confidence against the Labor government until a deal with either party could be arranged.
On 13 April, to meet the deadline imposed by the Constitution Act 1934, Governor Underwood swore in an interim cabinet, consisting of David Bartlett as Premier, Lara Giddings
as Deputy Premier and Attorney-General, and Michael Aird
as Treasurer.
On 19 April 2010, after a week of negotiations, Labor Premier David Bartlett
agreed to appoint Greens leader, Nick McKim, as a Minister, along with Greens member for Denison, Cassy O'Connor
, as cabinet secretary
.
On 4 May, the Greens nominated Tim Morris
for the position of Deputy Speaker—a surprise for Labor who had nominated Brenton Best
. With the support of the Liberals, Morris was elected with 15 votes to Best's 8.
On 5 May, the first day of sitting for the new parliament, the Liberals moved a motion of no-confidence against the Bartlett government, which was defeated by Labor and the Greens.
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...
. The 12-year incumbent Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government, led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett
David Bartlett
David John Bartlett is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania, serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison from 2004 to 2011.-Early life:He has been a resident...
, won a fourth consecutive term against the Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
opposition, led by Will Hodgman
Will Hodgman
William Edward Felix Hodgman , is an Australian politician, and is the leader of the opposition Liberal Party in Tasmania....
, after Labor formed a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
with the support of the Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
.
The election was conducted by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, an independent body answerable to Parliament. As in past Tasmania state elections, the proportional Hare-Clark system was used to allocate the 25 seats in the House. The Commission announced that there were 357,315 enrolled electors at the close of rolls. A total of 89 candidates nominated for election.
Dates
On 17 November 2008, David Bartlett announced his government's intention to pass legislation enacting fixed electoral termsFixed-term election
A Fixed-term election is an election that occurs on a set date, and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician.Fixed-term elections are common for most mayors and for directly elected governors and presidents, but less common for prime ministers and parliaments in a parliamentary system of...
for Tasmania, with the next election scheduled to be held on 20 March 2010. It was noted by ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
election analyst Antony Green
Antony Green
Antony John Green is an Australian psephologist and commentator for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.-Early years and background:...
that the date was the same as the already-legislated South Australian election, and that this may have an effect on media coverage of both elections. The draft legislation for the bill was referred to the Select Committee on the Working Arrangements of Parliament in October 2009, although Bartlett confirmed that the government was committed to the 20 March election date despite the fixed-term legislation not being enacted.
On 12 February 2010, the Premier visited the Governor of Tasmania, Peter Underwood, to request that he dissolve the House of Assembly and issue the writs for the election. The Governor agreed to the following election dates:
- 19 February 2010: Issue of writs and close of electoral rolls
- 4 March 2010: Close of candidate nominations
- 5 March 2010: Announcement of candidate nominations
- 20 March 2010: Polling day
Campaign
On 8 February, the Premier announced that Tasmania's first televised leaders' debate would be held on 14 March between himself and opposition leader Will HodgmanWill Hodgman
William Edward Felix Hodgman , is an Australian politician, and is the leader of the opposition Liberal Party in Tasmania....
, and would be broadcast nationally by Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
. At the time of the announcement, Mr Hodgman was not aware of the debate and Greens leader Nick McKim was not invited.
On 10 March, around 100 forest workers protested outside the Greens official campaign launch.
On 12 March, two Liberal and two Labor ex-premiers—Paul Lennon
Paul Lennon
Paul Anthony Lennon is an Australian Labor Party politician. He was Premier of Tasmania from 21 March 2004 until his resignation on 26 May 2008. He was member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the seat of Franklin from 1990 until officially resigning on 27 May 2008...
, Michael Field
Michael Field (Australian politician)
Michael Walter Field, AC was Tasmanian Labor leader from 1988 until his retirement in 1996, and was the Premier of Tasmania between 1989 and 1992...
, Robin Gray
Robin Gray (Australian politician)
Robin Trevor Gray is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Tasmania from 1982 to 1989. A Liberal, he was elected Liberal state leader in 1981 and in 1982 defeated the Labor government of Harry Holgate on a policy of "state development," particularly the building of the Franklin Dam, a...
and Tony Rundle
Tony Rundle
Anthony Maxwell Rundle AO 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 who held the seat of Braddon between 1986 and 2002. A former journalist, he is married to...
—issued a joint press release warning voters of the dangers of minority government with the Greens holding the balance of power.
In the week before the election, the Labor party distributed leaflets alleging that the Greens had a plan to legalise heroin and give "violent criminals" the right to vote
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
. In addition, 20,000 automated phone calls (robocall
Robocall
Robocall is a term for an automated phone call that uses both a computerized autodialer and a computer-delivered pre-recorded message. The implication is that a "robocall" resembles a telephone call from a robot...
s) were made to residents of Braddon repeating these claims about the Greens, although Labor ended the campaign after a public backlash.
On 15 March, David Bartlett said he would resign if the Liberal party won more seats than Labor.
Polling
Polling was conducted every three months by Enterprise Marketing and Research Services (EMRS). The sample size for each poll was 1,000 Tasmanian voters.| Date | Political parties | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALP | Lib | Grn | Ind | Undecided | |||
| Feb 2010 | 23% | 30% | 22% | 2% | 23% | ||
| Nov 2009 | 26% | 37% | 17% | 2% | 19% | ||
| Aug 2009 | 26% | 33% | 17% | 2% | 22% | ||
| May 2009 | 33% | 27% | 13% | 3% | 24% | ||
| Feb 2009 | 34% | 29% | 15% | 2% | 20% | ||
| Nov 2008 | 30% | 26% | 18% | 1% | 23% | ||
| Aug 2008 | 30% | 30% | 16% | 1% | 23% | ||
| May 2008 | 25% | 33% | 18% | 2% | 22% | ||
| Polling conducted by EMRS. | |||||||
| Date | Labor Bartlett |
Liberal Hodgman |
Green McKim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2010 | 29% | 34% | 21% |
| Nov 2009 | 28% | 40% | 19% |
| Aug 2009 | 30% | 37% | 15% |
| May 2009 | 39% | 31% | 13% |
| Feb 2009 | 41% | 29% | 12% |
| Polling conducted by EMRS. ^ Remainder were "uncommitted" or "undecided" to any leader. |
|||
Results
|}Source: Tasmanian Electoral Commission
Primary vote by division
| Bass | Braddon | Denison | Franklin | Lyons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
34.52% | 40.24% | 36.30% | 30.49% | 42.76% |
| Liberal Party of Australia Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office... |
42.64% | 45.19% | 29.79% | 41.17% | 36.10% |
| Tasmanian Greens 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... |
20.95% | 13.76% | 24.89% | 27.35% | 21.14% |
| Other | 1.89% | 0.80% | 9.01% | 0.99% | 0.00% |
Final distribution of seats
EWLINE
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Outcome
Labor lost four seats on a swing of 12.39 percentage points against it, whilst the Liberals gained three seats and the Greens one—the latter recording their highest ever statewide vote of 21.61%. This meant that both the Labor and Liberal Parties had 10 seats each, meaning neither could form majority government. It took over two weeks for the results to be formally declared, although the number of seats for each party was almost certain by the end of counting on the night of the election and the main question was which representatives of each party would win a seat, with the Hare-Clark and Robson rotationRobson Rotation
Robson Rotation is the method of printing multiple ballots for single transferable vote elections, with each having the candidates listed in a different order....
systems meaning that some incumbent members on both sides of parliament were defeated by newcomers from their own party. The only inter-party battles for a seat during the counting process were between the Greens and Liberals for the final seat in Braddon (won by the Greens), and between independent Andrew Wilkie
Andrew Wilkie
Andrew Damien Wilkie is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Denison...
and the Liberals for the final seat in Denison (won by the Liberals).
Attention was then focussed on the positions of the parties. Greens leader Nick McKim declared he was willing to make a deal with either party, whilst Labor leader David Bartlett
David Bartlett
David John Bartlett is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania, serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison from 2004 to 2011.-Early life:He has been a resident...
and Liberal leader Will Hodgman
Will Hodgman
William Edward Felix Hodgman , is an Australian politician, and is the leader of the opposition Liberal Party in Tasmania....
insisted they would stick to promises made before the election not to enter into any deals. Bartlett had also pledged that whoever won the most seats or, in the event of a tie, the most votes would have the right to form a government, and both leaders now claimed this meant that Hodgman had the right to form a ministry. On 1 April, the Labor caucus unanimously agreed to relinquish power, and Bartlett then advised the Governor that Hodgman should be sent for. Former federal Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson
Graham Richardson
Graham Frederick Richardson , a former Australian politician, was a Senator for New South Wales from 1983–94 for the Australian Labor Party, a senior minister in Hawke and Keating governments, and is now a political lobbyist, public speaker, and media commentator. During his time in politics,...
called Bartlett "silly" for not negotiating with the Greens.
On 7 April the results were declared, and under the Constitution Act 1934, the Governor of Tasmania, Peter Underwood, had seven days to commission a Government. Ultimately, after speaking to the Liberal and Labor leaders, he recommissioned Bartlett. He released detailed reasons for his decision, saying that Bartlett did not have the right to promise power to Hodgman, and that Hodgman was not in a position to form stable government. He regarded as irrelevant the position of the Greens, regarding it as a matter for the Assembly as a whole to test or maintain support for the ministry. Hodgman accused Bartlett of breaking his promise to hand over power, noting that in a letter to the Governor, Bartlett had contradicted a public statement made on 1 April where he had said he would not move any vote of no confidence against a Liberal government. However, Professor Richard Herr of the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
believed the Governor's stance was a correct one, as it served the interests of stable government. Constitutional law expert Michael Stokes disagreed, saying too high a bar had been set for the Liberals and Labor had not proven it could deliver stable government in the new Assembly.
On the day before the decision was finalised, the Greens indicated that as no party had shown a willingness to negotiate a deal with them, they would neither initiate nor support a vote of no confidence against the Labor government until a deal with either party could be arranged.
On 13 April, to meet the deadline imposed by the Constitution Act 1934, Governor Underwood swore in an interim cabinet, consisting of David Bartlett as Premier, Lara Giddings
Lara Giddings
Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings is an Australian politician and the 44th and current Premier of Tasmania since January 2011...
as Deputy Premier and Attorney-General, and Michael Aird
Michael Aird
Michael Anthony Aird is a former Tasmanian politician. He was an ALP member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council in the Division of Derwent since 1995. From 2006 to 2010, he was the treasurer of Tasmania, one of few legislative councillors in history to have held a ministerial portfolio...
as Treasurer.
On 19 April 2010, after a week of negotiations, Labor Premier David Bartlett
David Bartlett
David John Bartlett is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania, serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison from 2004 to 2011.-Early life:He has been a resident...
agreed to appoint Greens leader, Nick McKim, as a Minister, along with Greens member for Denison, Cassy O'Connor
Cassy O'Connor
Cassandra Stanwell O'Connor is an Australian politician, who has been a Tasmanian Greens member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly since 2008, representing the electorate of Division of Denison....
, as cabinet secretary
Cabinet Secretary
A Cabinet Secretary is almost always a senior official who provides services and advice to a Cabinet of Ministers. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powers, including general responsibility for the entire civil service...
.
On 4 May, the Greens nominated Tim Morris
Tim Morris
Timothy Bryce Morris is an Australian politician. He has been a Tasmanian Greens member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly since the 2002 election, representing the Lyons electorate....
for the position of Deputy Speaker—a surprise for Labor who had nominated Brenton Best
Brenton Best
Brenton Roy Best is an Australian politician. Born in Devonport, Tasmania, he was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1996 as a Labor member for Braddon. He continues to represent the seat.-References:...
. With the support of the Liberals, Morris was elected with 15 votes to Best's 8.
On 5 May, the first day of sitting for the new parliament, the Liberals moved a motion of no-confidence against the Bartlett government, which was defeated by Labor and the Greens.