Tasmanian House of Assembly

rdf:langString Tasmanian House of Assembly

rdf:langString

rdf:langString House of Assembly

rdf:langString House of Assembly

rdf:langString #307159

rdf:langString Tasmanian House of Assembly.jpg

rdf:langString Parliament of Tasmania

rdf:langString Tasmania Coat of Arms.svg

rdf:langString Lower house

rdf:langString Chairman of Committees

rdf:langString Leader of the House

rdf:langString Government Whip

rdf:langString Tasmania, Australia

rdf:langString House of Assembly Chamber,

rdf:langString Parliament House, Hobart,

rdf:langString Government

rdf:langString Labor

rdf:langString Independent

rdf:langString Liberal

rdf:langString Opposition

rdf:langString Greens

rdf:langString Crossbench

rdf:langString 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 25 members, elected for a term of up to four years, with five members being elected in each of five electorates, called divisions. Each division has approximately the same number of electors. 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. Since 1998, the quota for election in each division, after distribution of preferences, has been 16.7% (one-sixth). 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. This system not only makes it all but certain that the division's minority party wins at least one seat, but makes it easier for minor parties to enter the legislature and possibly exert influence through the balance of power (the need for a working majority in the assembly). In the present House of Assembly, winning 15 seats—only two more than necessary for a majority—is considered a landslide victory. The last election for the House of Assembly took place on 1 May 2021. 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.