What is the Legislative Council?
We all have busy lives and different interests, and it’s not unusual that we only really take on board information that directly relates to our day-to-day lives and ignore the rest.
But to understand my role in the Huon Division and how I can help you, it’s helpful to understand how the Tasmanian Parliament is set up. Importantly, the Legislative Council (Upper House) electorates are slightly different geographically than those electorates that we vote in for the House of Assembly (Lower House). Each of the 12 divisions represented in the Legislative Council has one representative, and I am the representative in the Huon Division.
There are five divisions represented in the House of Assembly and each has seven representatives. Franklin Division roughly equates to the Huon Division.
If you’d like to have a look at the differences between the electorates, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission is the best place to start. The TEC can tell you who represents you in either Federal, State or Local government and the info can be found here.
Below are some extracts from the Tasmanian Parliamentary Library, which is very rich in resources for yourself, your family, your kids, or your school.
Remember that the Parliament also retains a House of Assembly Education Office. You can find out more details here.
The Tasmanian Parliament
Tasmania, the second oldest settlement in Australia, was founded at Risdon Cove on the River Derwent by Lieutenant John Bowen in September 1803. Shortly after, Colonel William Paterson established a settlement on the Tamar River in the island’s north. Until 1812, the colony was divided into two counties and managed separately from Sydney.
In 1812, Colonel Thomas Davey was appointed as the first Lieutenant-Governor of the entire colony. On December 3, 1825, Van Diemen’s Land, as it was then known, became a self-administered colony. It was governed by the Lieutenant-Governor and a six-member Legislative Council.
The colony’s name was changed to Tasmania in 1856, the same year responsible government was introduced, and the bicameral Parliament held its first meeting. Since then, the Tasmanian Parliament has consisted of two chambers: the Legislative Council (upper house) and the House of Assembly (lower house). The House of Assembly, which forms the government based on the majority party, is the primary legislative body, while the Legislative Council serves as a review chamber, offering additional scrutiny and checks on the decisions and legislation of the government-dominated House of Assembly.
The Tasmanian Legislative Council
The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two chambers of the Parliament, the other being the House of Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. Members of the Legislative Council are often referred to as MLCs.
The Legislative Council has 15 members elected using preferential voting in 15 single-member electorates. Each electorate has approximately the same number of electors. A review of Legislative Council division boundaries is required every 9 years, the most recent was completed in 2017.
Election of members in the Legislative Council are staggered. Elections alternate between three divisions in one year and in two divisions the next year. Elections take place on the first Saturday in May. The term of each MLC is six years.
The Tasmanian Legislative Council is a unique parliamentary chamber in Australian politics in that historically it is the only chamber in any state parliament to be significantly non-partisan, with a plurality of its members being independents.
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.
Source: Wikipedia