Tasmanian House of Assembly

House of Assembly
51st Parliament
Type
Type	Lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania
History
Founded	2 December 1856; 167 years ago (2 December 1856)
Leadership
Speaker	Michelle O'Byrne, Labor since 14 May 2024
Chairman of Committees	Jacquie Petrusma, Liberal since 14 May 2024
Leader of the House	Eric Abetz, Liberal since 10 April 2024
Government Whip	Simon Wood, Liberal since 10 April 2024
Leader of Opposition Business	Shane Broad, Labor since 16 April 2024
Opposition Whip	Meg Brown, Labor since 16 April 2024
Leader of Greens Business	Vica Bayley, Greens since 23 April 2024
Greens Whip	Vica Bayley, Greens since 23 April 2023
Structure
Seats	35
Political groups	Government (14)   Liberal (14) Confidence and supply (5)   Lambie Network (3)   Independent (2)[a] Opposition (10)   Labor (10) Crossbench (6)   Greens (5)   Independent (1)[b]
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Hare-Clark
Last election	23 March 2024
Meeting place
House of Assembly Chamber, Parliament House, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Website
Tas 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 35 members, elected for a term of up to four years,^[c] with seven members being elected in each of five electorates, called divisions. Each division has approximately the same number of electors, and shares its name with one of Tasmania's federal electoral divisions. Voting for the House of Assembly is by a form of proportional representation using the single transferable vote (STV), known as the Hare-Clark electoral system. By having multiple members for each division, the voting intentions of the electors are more closely represented in the House of Assembly. This system makes it all but certain that the division's minority party wins at least one seat. Additionally, it is easier for minor parties to enter the legislature than in the rest of Australia, allowing them to possibly exert influence through the balance of power (the need for a working majority in the assembly).

At the 2024 state election, the size of the House increased from 25 to 35 members, with seven members elected from the five divisions.^[2][3]

Since 2024, as well as previously from 1959–1998, the quota for election in each division, after distribution of preferences, has been 12.5% (one-eighth). Under the preferential proportional voting system in place, the lowest-polling candidates are eliminated, and their votes distributed as preferences to the remaining candidates. If a candidate achieves a quota, they are declared elected and any surplus votes (those over and above quota) are redistributed according to the next back-up preference marked by the voter.

Most legislation is initiated in the House of Assembly. The party or coalition with a majority of seats in the House of Assembly is invited by the Governor of Tasmania to form Government. The leader of that party becomes the Premier of Tasmania, and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. As Australian politicians traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the governing party will be passed by the House of Assembly.

Unlike other Australian state legislatures, the House of Assembly is elected from multimember districts while the Legislative Council is elected from single-member districts. The reverse is the case in most of the rest of Australia; that is, the lower house is elected from single-member districts while the upper house is elected from multi-member districts or at large.

Tasmania has therefore been described has having an upside down system to the rest of Australia.^[4]

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