Government of Tasmania

Logo of the Tasmanian Government

Tasmanian coat of arms featuring two thylacines

The form of the Government of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. Since 1901 Tasmania has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.

Under the Australian Constitution, Tasmania ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas. In practice, however, the independence of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth.

Executive and Judicial Powers

Tasmania is governed according to the principles of the Westminster System, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom. Legislative power rests with the Parliament of Tasmania, which consists of the Crown, represented by the Governor of Tasmania, and the two Houses, the Tasmanian Legislative Council and the Tasmanian House of Assembly.

Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and senior ministers. In practice executive power is exercised by the Premier of Tasmania and 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 and a system of subordinate courts, but the High Court of Australia and other federal courts have overriding jurisdiction on matters which fall under the ambit of the Australian Constitution.

Current Ministry

The current ministry of Tasmania comprises the following nine Liberal members :

Office	Minister
Premier Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events Minister for Sport and Recreation Minister for Aboriginal Affairs	Will Hodgman, MP
Deputy Premier Minister for Education and Training Minister for Primary Industries and Water	Jeremy Rockliff, MP
Minister for Health Minister for Information Technology and Innovation Leader of Government Business, House of Assembly	Michael Ferguson, MP
Attorney-General Minister for Justice Minister for Corrections Minister for the Arts Leader for the Government, Legislative Council	Vanessa Goodwin, MLC
Minister for State Growth Minister for Energy Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage	Matthew Groom, MP
Treasurer Minister for Planning and Local Government Minister for Forestry	Peter Gutwein, MP
Minister for Racing Minister for Building and Construction Minister for Mining	Adam Brooks, MP
Minister for Police and Emergency Management Minister for Infrastructure	Rene Hidding, MP
Minister for Human Services Minister for Women	Jacquie Petrusma, MP

Houses of Parliament

A panoramic view of Parliament House from the front steps.

House of Assembly

Tasmania's House of Assembly is the lower house of the Tasmanian parliament. There are five House of Assembly divisions: Bass, Braddon, Denison, Franklin and Lyons. These divisions have the same boundaries as the five Commonwealth House of Representatives divisions for Tasmania. There are twenty-five members of the House of Assembly, with five members elected for each of the divisions using the Hare-Clark voting system of multi-member proportional representation. Members are elected for a term of up to 4 years.

Party	Seats held	Percentage of Assembly	Current House of Assembly
Liberal Party of Australia	15	60%
Australian Labor Party	7	28%
Tasmanian Greens	3	12%

Legislative Council

Tasmania's Legislative Council is the upper house of the Tasmanian parliament. It has 15 members, each representing one of the following 15 electoral divisions: Apsley, Montgomery, Rosevears, Derwent, Murchison, Elwick, Nelson, Rumney, Huon, Launceston, Wellington, Mersey, Pembroke, Western Tiers and Windermere. The boundaries of the current divisions are determined by the Legislative Council Redistribution Tribunal.^[1] Elections are conducted on a 6-year periodic cycle. Elections for 3 members are held in May one year, with elections for 2 members held in May the following year and so on.

Party	Seats held	Current Legislative Council
Australian Labor Party	1
Liberal Party of Australia	2
Independents	12

Parliament House

Both houses meet since 1841 in Parliament House in the Hobart suburb of Salamanca by the waterfront. The house was originally intended as a customs house but changed use when Tasmania achieved self-government.

Tasmanian Government Departments

The current Tasmanian Government Departments consist of:^[2]

• Education (DoE)
• Health and Human Services (DHHS)
• Justice (DoJ)
• Police and Emergency Management (DPEM)
• Premier and Cabinet (DPAC)
• Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment (DPIPWE)
• Department of State Growth
• Treasury and Finance

State-owned businesses

The Government of Tasmania owns and operates a number of state owned companies:^[3]

• Aurora Energy: the sole retailer of electricity and gas in Tasmania.
• Forestry Tasmania: the manager of public forests and plantations for logging, sawmilling and woodchipping.
• Hydro Tasmania: a large generator of electricity, management of hydroelectric schemes. Also owns a mainland energy retailer, Momentum Energy.
• Irrigation Tasmania: tasked with the planning, construction and maintenance of the Tasmanian Irrigation Schemes culminating pipes, dams and pumping stations.
• Metro Buses: a public transportation company.
• Motor Accidents Insurance Board (MAIB): public insurance resulting from car accidents.
• Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority: 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.
• Tasmanian Rail: freight transportation, railway management.
• TasNetworks: electricity transmission.
• TasPorts: port management and stevedoring.
• Tasracing: the operator of Tasmania's horse and dog racing venues, management of betting.
• TasWater: operates the state water and sewerage systems, retailer of water.
• TT-Line Company: operates the Bass Strait ferries.

Other levels of government

Federal representation of Tasmania

As a State of Australia, Tasmania is represented in the House of Representatives and Australian Senate. Tasmania has five representative in the federal House of Representatives in the divisions of Bass, Braddon, Denison, Franklin and Lyons. Tasmania also has twelve Senators in line with other states.

Local government in Tasmania

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. Tasmania has twenty-nine local government areas. These include six cities (three in greater Hobart, one covering each of Launceston, Burnie and Devonport) and twenty-three municipalities. The largest council (by number of enrolled electors) is City of Launceston and the smallest council is Municipality of Flinders (which serves the Flinders Island and surrounding islands, and has just over 800 electors)

References

1. "Tasmanian Legislative Council". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. 2006-09-08.
2. "Service Tasmania Tasmanian Government Organisations". Service Tasmania. 2016-04-14.
3. "Tasmanian Government Businesses". Tasmanian Department of Treasury and Finance. Tasmanian Government.

External links

• Government of Tasmania website
• The Constitution of Tasmania in AustLII (link ineffective)
• Constitution Act 1934 (Tas) as enacted