HISTORY TASSIE PARLIAMENT’S FEMALE FIRST
TASMANIA’S new House of Assembly will be the first lower house in any Australian state parliament where there will be more female MPs than men.
Counting yesterday confirmed an overall Liberal majority of 13 — and that 13 of the 25 members in the lower house will be women, including two of the three party leaders.
Labor’s Michelle O’Byrne, who is the national chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, said it was an important milestone and had come as the result of hard work to boost the numbers of women in politics.
THE majority of MPs in the next House of Assembly will be women — the first time women have outnumbered men in an Australian state parliament.
Counting was finalised in each of the state’s five Lower House seats yesterday, confirming a Liberal majority and that 13 of the 25 members in the House of Assembly will be women, including two of the three party leaders.
The Government has held on to 13 of its 15 seats, Labor has increased its representation from seven to 10 and the Greens will have two members, down from three.
The milestone comes 115 years after women won the right to vote in Tasmania and 97 years after gaining the right to stand for parliament. The first woman to be elected to state parliament was Margaret McIntyre in 1948.
Labor’s Michelle O’Byrne — who is the national chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians said the result was an important milestone and had come as the result of hard work to boost the numbers of women in politics.
“I’m really excited to see we’re getting more and more women elected,” she said.
“It’s a really important sign, because one of the arguments about increasing women’s representation in elected life is that if you can’t see it, you can’t be it.”
She said the result was in part due to Labor’s strategy of putting a high priority on promoting women into winnable seats.
“It does show that affirmative action works,” she said.
“We’ve had affirmative action in the ALP here since 1998, we were the first Labor state to do it. Since then, Labor in the Upper House has 50 per cent women, 70 per cent of the Lower House [Labor members] are women, 50 per cent in House of Representatives and 100 per cent of the Senators.”
A similar majority of female members was returned in the 25-member ACT House of Assembly in 2016.
Liberal MP Elise Archer was the first woman to hold the position of Speaker in the Tasmanian Parliament.
“It’s really good to see we have passed that threshold and be nation-leading,” she said.
“I think it’s really pleasing. It’s good to see parliament reflect the population and it brings to parliament a range of views and experience that’s more representative.”
Ms Archer said the Liberal Party had made a conscious effort to attract and preselect more women as candidates in recent times.
The final makeup of parliament was determined after a dramatic final day of counting.
In Franklin, Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff was returned after a white-knuckle battle with Liberal Nic Street for the fifth and final seat. Ms Woodruff ended up clear of her rival by just 226 votes.
Ms Woodruff’s election meant that the Liberal Party retained 13 of its 15 seats — and a majority in the House.
Under the standing orders, the Speaker of the next parliament will be able to vote with the Government.
Premier Will Hodgman said a reduced majority was still a majority.
“It is a majority, that’s the
first thing I’ll say,” he said.
“We received 51, or thereabouts, per cent of the votes. We have a majority of 13.
“Hare-Clark, as I’ve always said, is an electoral system that has its vagaries, and with a very similar vote for the last election we won 15 seats, on this occasion it was 13.
“I regret that particularly for Joan Rylah and for Nic Street, who have both been excellent local members and we thank them for their service.
“We’re very confident that we’ll be able to advance the agenda ... we’ve been implementing for the last four years but that we took to the election which we do have a mandate to deliver.” In other results yesterday:
HOBART Lord Mayor and Liberal candidate Sue Hickey was declared elected and Labor’s Ella Haddad edged out Madeleine Ogilvie by 731 votes in Denison.
LABOR’S Alison Standen was elected in Franklin.
BURNIE Mayor Anita Dow
was elected for Labor in Braddon along with Labor’s Shane Broad and Liberal MP Roger Jaensch. Liberal member Joan Rylah failed in her bid for reelection.
LABOR’S Jennifer Houston won the fifth seat in Bass, leaving Green Andrea Dawkins out of parliament.
THE final count in Lyons saw Guy Barnett, Rene Hidding and Mark Shelton from the Liberal Party returned and Jan Butler joining Labor leader Rebecca White in parliament.
Labor member Alison Standen it was satisfying to be part of a parliament reaching an important milestone for the representation of women.
“I’m the first to say that people need to earn their stripes based on merit, but it’s a really satisfying nod to a deeper social change,” she said
She said she was thrilled to be elected and paid tribute to her team of volunteers.
“We made a goal early in the campaign to reach 100 people a day,” she said.
“I rolled up my sleeves and I worked very hard, my campaign reached around 10,000 people, I had a small volunteer base, they weren’t all party members, they all believed in me and wanted to make a difference.”
The poll will be officially declared by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission in Bass, Braddon and Lyons today and in Denison and Franklin on Monday, when the writs will be returned to the Governor Kate Warner.