Barton Deakin Brief: Tasmanian Election Results

13 May 2021

Overview

The Tasmanian election held on 1 May 2021 resulted in a majority government for the Tasmanian Liberals, who have been returned for a historic third term. The Gutwein Government won 13 seats of a total 25 seats in the House of Assembly (lower house) and won 1 seat in the Legislative Council (upper house) to represent 4 of the 15 seats.

The Hare-Clark Voting System

The 25 seat House of Assembly is elected on the Hare-Clark voting system. The system provides a proportional representation (like the Australian Senate) using preferential voting (like the Australian House of Representatives).

This system involves counting the first preference votes of each candidate against a quota which is determined by the number of valid votes against vacancies. Once a candidate reaches the quota, they are determined to be elected and their surplus votes are distributed to the continuing candidates according to preference flows. There are five districts in Tasmania and each electorate has five representatives in the Assembly.

Seat Breakdown

House of Assembly (lower house)

Below is a table showing the party results in each of the five electorates. It is worth noting that all the successful candidates in Clark are women.

Legislative Council (upper house)

Three seats of the total fifteen were up for election in the Legislative Council. The new composition of the Legislative Council is 4 Liberal members, 4 Labor members and 6 independents.

State-wide Voting

The Liberal Party received 48.72% of the state-wide votes with Labor receiving 28.2%. The government had a swing of -1.54% and Labor -4.43%. The Greens received a 2.08% swing and independent candidates increased their total vote by 5.14%.

For more information, contact John Griffin on +61 419 901 159 or Jack de Hennin on +61 424 828 127.