Growing mood for restoring numbers
More leaders speak up about mending democratic spirit, says
WE welcome the growing enthusiasm for a revitalisation of Tasmanian politics by the restoration of the Tasmanian parliament.
The endorsements of such a change by the Speaker of the House and the Leader of the Greens are pertinent and do reflect a growing mood.
We note also Simon Boughey’s article which states “If there ever was ever a time to go back to 35 seats in the House of Assembly, now is that time,” (Talking Point, May 17).
He is of course quite right! We refer also to the report about Labor leader Rebecca White saying she believed Premier Will Hodgman would be seriously reconsidering whether increasing politician numbers would provide better government and a more workable parliament ( Mercury, May 3).
This was not surprising because Rebecca White, shortly after she became leader of the Opposition, declared that: “the Tasmanian Parliament would function better with more members, not just because of the [work] loading on the portfolio holders but also the committee work that’s required — it gives you greater depth on your backbench and strengthens your talent pool” ( Australian, March 27, 2017).
I note that the present Premier and former leader of the opposition Will Hodgman, in 2010, together with the leaders of Labor and the Greens, formally agreed to pursue the restoration of the House of Assembly to 35 seats, but did not sustain that agreement.
Powerful arguments have thus been put for reforming our legislative body but, surely, the strongest argument should be for the restoration of the democratic spirit in Tasmanian politics which would follow such a restoration.
The 1998 reduction of the House of Assembly from 35 seats to 25 seats reduced the representation of the Tasmanian people in the House of Assembly by 29 per cent.
This occurred in a period when there was a mantra for the pursuit of growth and vitality for the state which has continued to the present day.
This unfortunate assault on the key institution of Tasmania, the House of Assembly, reducing its capacity to both represent and, through government, administer the people of this state, has induced a sad decline in confidence in our political process which must be urgently addressed.
An opportunity should arise from the resolutions on governance passed by the Legislative Council in November.
This included a call for an independent review of the membership of parliament which was supported by arguments for the restoration of critical mass to our Parliament.
We note particularly the observations of former deputy president of the Legislative Council, Mr Greg Hall, that the size of Parliament does “affect the quality of decision making and debate that occurs in the Tasmanian Parliament” ( Mercury, February 7).
When, in due course, these matters are formally reported to the House of Assembly they should be embraced, as only through the restoration of Parliament can full confidence be restored to the political processes of the state of Tasmania.