Former premier Tony Rundle not ‘enthusiastic’ about move to restore lower house to 35 seats
Tony Rundle, a former premier of Tasmania, helped usher in a reduction to the number of seats in state parliament in 1998 – and he doesn’t want to see that change walked back.
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Former Liberal premier Tony Rundle says he isn’t “enthusiastic” about the prospect of the state’s lower house being restored to 35 seats, believing that politicians must do “more with less”.
The 83-year-old’s comments come after Premier Jeremy Rockliff committed on Wednesday to introduce legislation before the end of the year to increase the number of seats in the House of Assembly from 25 to 35 at the next state election, which is due in 2025.
Mr Rundle governed in minority between 1996 and 1998 and helped usher in the change to the size of parliament, which also saw 4 seats in the Legislative Council scrapped.
“At the time in ‘98, when we moved to reduce the size of parliament, I said that Tasmanians were doing more with less and politicians should do the same,” he told the Mercury.
“That was the philosophy then and nothing’s changed.
“It would be very difficult for me to get enthusiastic about supporting the idea that there should be more politicians.
“Although, I can understand some of the reasons why the Premier’s been thinking about it in these recent times.”
Mr Rundle acknowledged that a spate of ministerial resignations, including those of Premier Peter Gutwein and Education Minister Sarah Courtney, had resulted in “a lot of pressure building up” for the government.
“I’m not sure why there were so many resignations,” he said. “Some people were saying it was because (the ministers) had too much work to do.”
“But if you look at the work that Tasmanian ministers have to do compared with their mainland counterparts, I don’t think they’d be doing more than state ministers on the mainland.”
In 1998, then Labor Opposition Leader Jim Bacon moved a motion to reduce the size of parliament and the Greens – whose confidence and supply Mr Rundle relied on to remain in power – threatened to topple the government with a vote of no confidence if it supported the proposal.
Eventually, however, Mr Rundle backed the motion and subsequently called an early election, which he ultimately lost.
Former Labor premier Lara Giddings told ABC Radio on Thursday that restoring the seats in the lower house would foster a “healthier democracy” in Tasmania.
“When I was first elected to parliament back in 1996, it was a 35-seat parliament,” she said. “And it was a much better parliament in terms of the way the parliament functioned, the way the committee system functioned, the scrutiny you could put on government.”
Aboriginal leader calls for Premier to go further on new MPs
A leading voice in the Tasmanian Aboriginal community says now is the time to create two dedicated seats for indigenous people in the state parliament.
Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania chairman Michael Mansell praised Premier Jeremy Rockliff for committing to introduce legislation by the end of this year to increase the number of seats in the House of Assembly.
The change would come into effect at the next state election, due in 2025, and would see 10 new faces in the lower house, bumping the number of members up from 25 to 35.
Mr Mansell said an expansion of this kind “must” include two dedicated Aboriginal seats.
“Tasmania is a representative democracy that has failed to represent Aborigines,” he said.
“Maori in New Zealand, Indians in Maine in the US and indigenous people in Columbia have dedicated seats for the original people in their parliaments.
“We hope that Tasmania would not begrudge Aboriginal people of the opportunity to finally get our people represented in what is an all-white parliament.
“To avoid split loyalties, dedicated seats are far more effective than Aborigines being elected through political parties.”
In 2020, the Select Committee on the House of Assembly Restoration Bill concluded that dedicated Aboriginal seats were “warranted to improve representation and outcomes for Aboriginal Tasmanians”.
Mr Mansell said that under the Land Council’s proposal, the two Aboriginal seats would be in addition to the 10 seats set to be restored under the new legislation.
“The electorate for the Aboriginal candidates would be the whole of the state rather than any one or more of the current divisions,” he said. “Otherwise, there would be a disproportionate number in two of the three divisions.”
Mr Mansell said Aboriginal people could only vote once either for “general” candidates or Aboriginal candidates.
In announcing his decision to increase the size of parliament on Wednesday, Mr Rockliff acknowledged that it could be electorally unpopular.
“Sometimes you’ve got to have the courage of your convictions and do what’s right,” he said.
‘That’s exactly what we will do because ultimately, this is about ensuring the Tasmanian parliament … represents our constituents right across Tasmania.”
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Originally published as Former premier Tony Rundle not ‘enthusiastic’ about move to restore lower house to 35 seats
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