2010 Tasmanian state election
| |||||||||
In the 2010 Tasmanian state election members were elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly on 20 March 2010.[1]
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. Current Labor Premier David Bartlett sought re-election, with the Labor Party having been in government since 1998. They were challenged by the largest opposition party, the Liberal Party, led by Will Hodgman, and The Greens, led by Nick McKim. Other groups contesting the election included the Socialist Alliance as well as various independent candidates, notably Andrew Wilkie standing in Denison.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission announced that there were 357,315 enrolled electors at the close of rolls.[2] A total of 89 candidates nominated for election.[3]
Dates
On 17 November 2008, David Bartlett announced his government's intention to pass legislation enacting fixed electoral terms for Tasmania, with the next election scheduled to be held on 20 March 2010.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
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[7]:
- 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 Hodgman, and would be broadcast nationally by Sky News.[8] At the time of the announcement, Mr Hodgman was not aware of the debate and Greens leader Nick McKim was not invited.[9]
On 10 March, around 100 forest workers protested outside the Greens official campaign launch.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12] In addition, 20,000 automated phone calls (robocalls) were made to residents of Braddon repeating these claims about the Greens, although Labor ended the campaign after a public backlash.[13]
On 15 March, David Bartlett said he would resign if the Liberal party won more seats than Labor.[14]
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.[15]
| Date | Political parties | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALP | Lib | Grn | Ind | Undecided | |||
| Mar 2010 | 21% | 29% | 22% | 2% | 26% | ||
| 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
|
Tasmanian state election, 20 March 2010 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 357,315 | |||||
| Votes cast | 335,353 | Turnout | 93.85 | -1.03 | ||
| Informal votes | 14,911 | Informal | 4.45 | +0.01 | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Liberal | 124,933 | 38.99 | +7.17 | 10 | +3 | |
| Labor | 118,168 | 36.88 | -12.39 | 10 | -4 | |
| Greens | 69,233 | 21.61 | +4.98 | 5 | +1 | |
| Socialist Alliance | 646 | 0.19 | +0.03 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independent | 7,458 | 2.22 | +0.61 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 335,353 | 25 | ||||
Source: Tasmanian Electoral Commission
Primary vote by division
| Bass | Braddon | Denison | Franklin | Lyons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Labor Party | 34.52% | 40.24% | 36.30% | 30.49% | 42.76% |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 42.64% | 45.19% | 29.79% | 41.17% | 36.10% |
| Tasmanian Greens | 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
Outcome
The election saw Labor losing its four seat majority, suffering a 12 per cent swing. The Labor Party won 10 seats, the Liberals gained three seats to win 10 and the Greens won 5 seats.[16], which resulted in a hung parliament. Neither major party would share power with the Greens. On 8 April, the Governor, Peter Underwood ordered Premier Bartlett to recall parliament and test his support in a vote in the House of Assembly.[17]. The Greens have pledged conditional support for a Labor/ Greens minority Government.[18]
Prior to the Governor handing down his decision to have the Government tested witht the confidence of the house, both the Liberal Leader, Will Hodgman and the Labor Leader and then Caretaker Premier David Bartlett meet at seperate times the day before with the Governor at Government House to discuss who could form a stable Government in Tasmania. Bartlett addressed the awaiting media at Government House and said he had advised the Governor to invite the Liberals to govern because they polled more of the statewide vote.[19] Mr Bartlett and Hodgman had told the media and ensured the public throughout the election campaign that neither party would form a minority government with the Greens as this risked an unstable Government that would be limited in powers to make decisions. After the Governor handed down his decision, Mr Bartlett addressed the meeting and said: "I want this job and I'm very pleased that the Governor has asked me to commission a government... I will do everything I can to make this work".[20]
Liberal Leader Will Hodgman immediately spoke to the media in response to the Governors decision and accused Labor of acting dishonourably and said that "Mr Bartlett had broken his promise to the Tasmanian people" (In reference to forming a miniorty government with the Greens)[21]. Hodgman said that the Liberals will test the commisioned Government by producing a motion of no confidence in the Government when the parliament resumes.[22]
See also
Notes
- ^ Tasmania election set for March 20, ABC News Online, 12 February 2010.
- ^ 2010 House of Assembly electoral rolls closed, Tasmanian Electoral Commission, 22 February 2010
- ^ Candidates Announced, Tasmanian Electoral Commission, 5 March 2010
- ^ Fixed term elections legislation, Government of Tasmania, 17 November 2008.
- ^ Green, Antony: Reprise: Fixed Term Parliaments for Tasmania, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 18 November 2010.
- ^ Select Committee Proposed for Fixed-Term Bill, Government of Tasmania, 25 October 2009.
- ^ House of Assembly election dates announced, Tasmanian Electoral Commission, 12 February 2010.
- ^ Premier Announces Election Debate Details, Government of Tasmania, 8 February 2010.
- ^ Tas leaders trade insults over election debates, ABC News, 8 February 2010
- ^ Michael Stedman, Workers crash Greens' launch, The Mercury, 11 March 2010
- ^ Anne Mather, Foes unite on poll fear, The Mercury, 13 March 2010
- ^ Sue Neales, Labor campaign gets dirty, The Mercury, 16 March 2010
- ^ Labor hangs up on anti-Green phone ads, ABC News, 17 March 2010
- ^ Premier to resign if Liberals win more seats, ABC News, 16 March 2010
- ^ EMRS State Voting Intentions Poll, EMRS, November 2009.
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/31/2861801.htm
- ^ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/state-politics/governor-picks-labor-to-rule-tasmania/story-e6frgczx-1225851535079
- ^ http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1037033
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/08/2867807.htm%7C Retrieved 2010-04-09
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/08/2867807.htm%7C Retrieved 2010-04-09
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/08/2867807.htm%7C Retrieved 2010-04-09
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/08/2867807.htm%7C Retrieved 2010-04-09
External links
  | This Australian elections-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |