The Tasmanian state election is over — here's when we get a new government

Australia Broadcast Center

5 hours ago

For Tasmanians wondering when they might have a parliament in place and a government doing actual government things, it could still be weeks off.
However, the official process to commission a government is underway.
More than a fortnight since the Tasmanian state election, the writs are now expected to be returned to the governor.
Once the writs — the written commands for the election of a new parliament — are returned, it starts a seven-day process during which Governor Barbara Baker must commission a premier and swear in at least some ministers.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff has said he intends to request Governor Baker recommissions his government.
But it remains unclear when exactly parliament will return.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) will hold the declaration of the polls ceremonies for each electoral division today.
These are formal ceremonies where the newly elected members of the House of Assembly are announced.
After that, the electoral writs from each division will be returned to the governor.
Electoral Commissioner Andrew Hawkey said the premier will meet with the governor once the writs have been returned.
"The premier is the premier, until the premier is not the premier, essentially," Mr Hawkey said.
"So, the premier will go to Her Excellency and there'll be discussions — similar to the ones prior to the election being called — about if they're sure they can form government."
The governor will also need to determine when parliament will next sit.
When parliament resumes, Mr Hawkey said the lower house will then need to elect a speaker.
But how soon parliament resumes will be up to the discretion of the governor — although it must be within 90 days of the writs being returned.
The timeline isn't fixed, with the governor having the option to bring parliament back sooner if she deems it necessary after meeting with Mr Rockliff.
However, election analyst Dr Kevin Bonham told ABC Radio Mornings it could be more than a month away.
"I would think, hopefully, as early as possible given the circumstances."
If Mr Rockliff is recommissioned as premier, Labor's pathway to power would have to be through a no-confidence vote in the premier when parliament resumes.
It's a scenario that's happened before in Tasmania.
The 1989 election also resulted in a hung parliament, with the incumbent Liberals winning 17 seats and Labor 13.
An accord between Labor and the five "Green independents" was made, meaning the new coalition had 18 seats, enough to form government.
Returning Liberal premier Robin Gray refused to resign, instead asking then-governor Sir Phillip Bennett to call another election.
Governor Bennett refused, and Mr Gray faced a no-confidence vote in parliament, which he lost.
"He said, 'I can form government even though I'm in minority', there was no confidence and that transitioned directly into Michael Field's Labor government, with the Greens' support.
"We may see something similar across the board. We don't know yet, we'll have to wait and see."
Despite those similarities, the lower house today looks very different from that of 1989.
If the Liberals are unable to form government, Labor would need to do it with support from a large crossbench.
The Liberals have 14 seats, Labor 10, and the crossbench is made up of five Greens, five independents, and one Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP.
One of the independents — Craig Garland — has already ruled out doing a confidence and supply deal with the Liberals.
And the Greens won't be offering their support to the Liberals either.
Mr Rockliff has said, unlike last time, he won't rely on confidence and supply agreements to form government.
Despite the general make-up of parliament appearing similar to last one, in terms of the major parties' seats, Dr Bonham said there was an important difference.
"Last time, we had the very inexperienced Jacqui Lambie Network grouping, who didn't have such a strong sense of what issues they were standing on," he said.