Tasmanian House of Assembly

Infobox Legislature
name = Tasmanian House of Assembly
coa_pic =
coa_res =
coa-pic =
coa-res =
session_room =
house_type = Lower house
houses =
leader1_type = Speaker
leader1 = Michael Polley
party1 = Labor Party
election1 = June 2008
leader2_type = Chair of Committees
leader2 = Brenton Roy Best
party2 = Labor party
election2 = June 2008
members = 25
p_groups = Labor party
Liberal Party
Tasmanian Greens
election3 = March 18, 2006
meeting_place = Parliament House, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
website = [http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ha/house.htm www.parliament.tas.gov.au]

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. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart.

Overview

The Assembly has 25 members, five members each coming from one of the five electorates. These are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by a form of proportional representation using the single-transferable vote (STV), known as the Hare-Clark system.

Most legislation is initiated in the House of Assembly. The party or coalition with the most seats in the lower house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party subsequently becomes Premier of Tasmania, and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. As Australian political parties traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the governing party will pass through the House of Assembly.

History

The House of Assembly was first established in 1856, the Legislative Council had already existed since 1852. The first elections for the House of Assembly were held in October 1856. The house first met on 2 December 1856 in the area that is now the parliamentary members lounge. The first House was divided into 24 electorates; Hobart had five members, Launceston had three members and 22 other electorates each had one member.

In 1906 the old electoral system was abolished and instead the state would be divided into five equally represented multi member electorates. Each electorate would return six members using the Hare-Clark proportional representation system.

In 1959 the number of members per electorate was increased to seven. In 1998 it was reduced to five. Leading to the current 25 member parliament. The reduction has been criticised by minor parties, particularly the Greens, as an attempt to reduce their influence. However since the 2002 election the Green vote has increased and they now hold four seats.

A Hansard service began on 12 June 1979. [ [http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/backg/Hansard.htm Tasmanian Parliamentary Library - Backgrounders - Hansard] ]

Electorates

*Bass
*Braddon
*Denison
*Franklin
*Lyons

Current distribution of seats

ee also

*Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
*Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly

References

* [http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au Tasmania Parliament Website]
* [http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ha/ha1.htm#History Tasmania Parliament History]