The Minister for Justice The Honourable Ray Groom I am honoured to submit this report on Tasmanian Parliamentary elections conducted during the period 1995 to 1997. A State general election for the House of Assembly was held on 24 February 1996. For the first time in Australia’s history, the 1996 State and Federal elections were held simultaneously with only one week separating the two polling days. The overlapping of the two elections significantly increased the complexity of the conduct of the elections and the degree of difficulty for both candidates and electors. I wish to place on record my appreciation for the numerous electoral officials who contributed in an extraordinary way to make these two electoral events a success. In 1995 three recounts were conducted for the 42nd Parliament from the House of Assembly divisions of Franklin and Lyons. These followed the resignations of the Honourable Michael Aird MHA, Gerry Bates MHA and the Honourable Robin Gray MHA in 1995. In 1997 two recounts were conducted for the 43rd Parliament from the House of Assembly division of Braddon. These followed the resignations of the Honourable Michael Field MHA and the Honourable Roger Groom MHA. In 1995 four periodical elections and one by-election were conducted for the Legislative Council. The by-election followed the resignation of the Honourable Charles Batt MLC. In 1996 three periodical elections were conducted for the Legislative Council. In 1997 three periodical elections and one by-election were conducted for the Legislative Council. The by-election followed the resignation of the Honourable Geoff Squibb MLC, in order to contest the new seat of Mersey. The 1997 Legislative Council elections were held on new divisional boundaries, following the first redistribution of the State under the Legislative Council Electoral Boundaries Act 1995. David Farrell CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER November 1997 Parliamentary Elections Report (1995 - 1997) i Report Available On Disc Or Cd-Rom The tables contained in this report are available in electronic form on request. Data can be provided in Microsoft Excel format on floppy disc for PC or Macintosh. ii Tasmanian Electoral Office Contents Legislative Council Enrolment 3 Election Summary 5 1995 Derwent 6 Pembroke 7 Queenborough 8 Tamar 10 West Devon 11 1996 Cornwall 12 Huon 13 Mersey 14 1997 Derwent 15 Leven 16 Mersey 17 Westmorland 18 House of Assembly Hare-Clark Electoral System 21 Members of the Forty Third Parliament 22 1996 General Election Statistics 23 First Preferences by Polling Place Bass 28 Braddon 38 Denison 52 Franklin 62 Lyons 72 Scrutiny of Preferences Bass 91 Braddon 93 Denison 95 Franklin 97 Lyons 99 Casual Vacancies filled by Recount Forty First Parliament John Bennett 102 Nick Evers 103 Ken Wriedt 104 Forty Second Parliament Robert Brown 105 Michael Aird 106 Gerry Bates 107 Robin Gray 108 Forty Third Parliament Michael Field 109 Roger Groom 110 Appendices A: Informal Ballot Paper Survey - 1996 House of Assembly Election 111 B: History Tables of House of Assembly Elections 123 Parliamentary Elections Report (1995 - 1997) iii C: Candidate Details 127 iv Tasmanian Electoral Office Legislative Council Elections (1995-1997) Legislative Council Elections 1 99 5- 19 97 Parliamentary Elections Report (1995 - 1997) 1 Legislative Council Elections (1995-1997) 2 Tasmanian Electoral Office Legislative Council Elections (1995-1997) Enrolment The following table shows Legislative Council enrolment totals at the close of the roll for 1995 — 1997 Legislative Council elections. The 1997 Legislative Council elections were conducted on the new Legislative Council boundaries following the redistibution. Where there have been major changes to the boundaries, new names have been created. The Division of Murchison includes the two former divisons of Gordon and Russell. Currently Murchison has two members, while the new division of Rumney is vacant. Electors of Rumney are represented by their member under the former boundaries i.e. the members of Pembroke and Monmouth. Previous May May New May Current Division 1995 1996 Division 1997 Member Buckingham 19 328 19 016 Buckingham 16 967 D M Crean Cornwall 14 019 13 721 Cornwall 17 615 R F Bailey Derwent 16 246 16 896 Derwent 17 234 M A Aird Gordon 4 493 4 458 Emu Bay 16 281 D M Hiscutt Hobart 16 933 16 683 Hobart 16 949 D J Parkinson Huon 24 050 25 126 Huon 16 292 A P Harriss Launceston 19 593 19 790 Launceston 17 255 D G Wing Macquarie 13 571 14 021 Leven 15 430 S L Smith Meander 15 797 16 178 Macquarie 16 235 G A Shaw Mersey 21 911 21 865 Mersey 16 539 G B Squibb Monmouth 23 595 24 586 Monmouth 16 592 S J Wilson Newdegate 16 031 16 178 Murchison 16 932 A W Fletcher & P R Schulze Pembroke 21 763 22 384 Newdegate 16 987 R W Ginn Queenborough 14 740 15 763 Pembroke 16 074 P C McKay Russell 15 989 16 154 Queenborough 17 186 J S Wilkinson South Esk 16 341 16 805 Roland 18 165 J A Loone Tamar 16 631 17 752 Rumney 16 283 Represented by the members for Monmouth and Pembroke West Devon 17 636 18 206 South Esk 16 958 C L Rattray Westmorland 15 095 14 761 Westmorland 17 165 S J Smith TOTAL 323 762 330 343 TOTAL 319 139 Parliamentary Elections Report (1995 - 1997) 3 Legislative Council Elections (1995-1997) Periodic Cycle of Legislative Council Elections Year Division Current Member Year Division Current Member 1997 Derwent M A Aird 2002 Cornwall R F Bailey Mersey G B Squibb Huon A P Harriss Westmorland S J Smith Leven S L Smith 1998 Buckingham D M Crean 2003 Derwent M A Aird Macquarie G A Shaw Mersey G B Squibb South Esk C L Rattray Westmorland S J Smith 1999 Monmouth S J Wilson 2004 Buckingham Elected May 1998 Newdegate R W Ginn Macquarie Elected May 1998 Murchison South Esk Elected May 1998 (Russell) A W Fletcher 2005 Monmouth Elected May 1999 (Gordon) P R Schulze (to retire in 2000) Newdegate Elected May 1999 2000 Hobart D J Parkinson Murchison Elected May 1999 Launceston D G Wing 2006 Hobart Elected May 2000 Rumney Vacant Launceston Elected May 2000 2001 Emu Bay D M Hiscutt Rumney Elected May 2000 Pembroke P C McKay Queenborough J S Wilkinson Roland J A Loone An election may be held for the division of Rumney before the year 2000 , in certain circumstances, if either member for Murchison ceases to be a member before the 2000 Legislative Council Elections. 4 Tasmanian Electoral Office Legislative Council Elections (1995-1997) Election Summary 1995 Issue of Writs 27 April Nominations 5 May Elections held 27 May Return of Writs 8 June Retiring Elected Division Member Candidate Derwent (By-election) C L Batt M A Aird Pembroke P C McKay P C McKay Queenborough E J C Stopp J Wilkinson Tamar J A Loone J A Loone West Devon H J Hiscutt D M Hiscutt 1996 Issue of Writs 24 April Nominations 3 May Elections held 25 May Return of Writs 5 June Retiring Elected Division Member Candidate Cornwall R F Bailey R F Bailey Huon A Y Meyer A P Harriss Mersey G B Squibb G B Squibb 1997 (New Divisions) Issue of Writs 1 May Nominations 9 May Elections held 31 May Return of Writs 13 June Retiring Elected Division Member Candidate Derwent M A Aird M A Aird Leven (By-election) G B Squibb S L Smith Mersey R T Hope G B Squibb Westmorland H G Brookes S J Smith Parliamentary Elections Report (1995 - 1997) 5 Legislative Council Elections (1995-1997) Division of DERWENT Electors enrolled : 16 099 By-election held on 27 May 1995 Electors who voted : 14 963 (92.94 %) Retiring member : The Honourable C L BATT Informal votes : 730 (4.88%) First preference votes and informal ballot papers - by polling place CANDIDATES AIRD BROMFIELD CORNELIUS FOSTER JEFFRIES WHITE Total first Total ballot Michael Judy Pat Tony Ted Jim preferencesInformal papers Bothwell 143 69 9 36 112 14 383 17 400 Bridgewater 1 460 243 57 362 201 125 2 448 150 2 598 Bronte 16 9 12 2 4 4 47 2 49 Dromedary 102 39 6 32 32 17 228 26 254 East Risdon 138 32 5 58 16 7 256 11 267 Ellendale 58 64 7 7 9 9 154 9 163 Gagebrook 994 181 39 245 142 99 1 700 99 1 799 Glenora 111 60 6 18 15 25 235 9 244 Granton 126 94 19 87 29 28 383 27 410 Gretna 49 70 11 15 13 15 173 5 178 Hamilton 74 54 11 8 17 12 176 6 182 Lachlan 110 90 5 18 11 35 269 19 288 Magra 145 92 7 31 13 54 342 18 360 Maydena 94 60 1 5 19 13 192 12 204 Molesworth 96 40 2 27 6 51 222 4 226 New Norfolk 1 215 664 59 196 73 279 2 486 114 2 600 New Norfolk North 485 290 17 60 29 98 979 48 1 027 Ouse 125 88 23 29 14 23 302 12 314 Risdon Vale 1 000 133 46 301 69 106 1 655 80 1 735 Tarraleah 21 10 26 1 0 3 61 1 62 Tea Tree 48 47 6 74 33 5 213 4 217 Westerway 97 44 9 13 15 17 195 9 204 Total ordinary votes6 707 2 473 383 1 625 872 1 039 13 099 682 13 781 Institution votes 27 17 5 6 6 8 69 19 88 Postal votes 268 101 20 74 35 42 540 10 550 Pre-poll votes 129 41 7 39 23 15 254 6 260 Section votes 138 56 6 20 13 38 271 13 284 Total 7 269 2 688 421 1 764 949 1 142 14 233 730 14 963 AIRD elected 6 Tasmanian Electoral Office Legislative Council Elections (1995-1997) Division of PEMBROKE Electors enrolled : 21 610 Election held on 27 May 1995 Electors who voted : 19 959 (92.36%) Retiring member : The Honourable P C McKay Informal votes : 566 (2.83%) First preference votes and informal ballot papers - by polling place CANDIDATES ALLEN JAMES McKAY Total first Total ballot Robert Richard Peter CharlespreferencesInformal papers Bellerive 550 969 1 331 2 850 69 2 919 Bligh 253 247 341 841 36 877 Cambridge 63 69 129 261 6 267 Geilston Bay 235 480 547 1 262 32 1 294 Howrah 621 743 1 281 2 645 83 2 728 Lindisfarne 459 921 1 131 2 511 64 2 575 Loatta Road 255 524 585 1 364 31 1 395 Montagu Bay 286 398 561 1 245 31