Tasmanian parliament suspended for five months

UPDATED: State parliament sittings have been dramatically curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaker Sue Hickey. Motion moved in the Tasmanian Parliament to suspend sitting days till August 2020 due to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

SITTINGS of state parliament will be suspended for five months due to the coronavirus crisis.

Today’s sittings of the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council will be the last until August.

Parliament was scheduled to adjourn this afternoon and return in late April.

Instead, the state’s three political leaders will talk about the best ways to deal with the crisis in a weekly phone hook-up.

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The last order of business was the Government’s second stimulus package and the passage of emergency legislation to deal with the pandemic.

Leader of the House Michael Ferguson said the current crisis left little choice.

“It is prudent and appropriate to adjourn the sitting of parliament given the fast-changing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that parliament has now approved legislation for critical decisions to be able to be made during the public health emergency,” he said.

“This, together with health advice to avoid, where possible, unnecessary contact, means returning on the previously intended next scheduled sitting week in late April would not be appropriate or healthy for MPs, MLCs or parliamentary staff.”

Labor leader Rebecca White said the decision was regrettable, but necessary.

“As a parliamentarian, I want to be able to come to this place to do our job to be able to provide a voice for our community and to hold the Government to account,” she said.

“I’ve received a commitment from the Premier that we’ll be able to speak regularly and we’re going to organise weekly meetings given this is a crisis and we all need to be able to work together on solutions.

“If there’s a need to recall the parliament, the Governor has that power and she can do that.”

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said heath advice had necessitated the extended shutdown.

“It’s one thing for MPs to get in there but the parliament building itself employs a lot of people, and we all have staff,” she said.

“The Premier looked us in the eye yesterday and said he would not abuse our trust in the powers that we have granted him to deal with this emergency.”

The House of Assembly will resume on August 18, the Legislative Council on August 25.