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.
Tasmanian's upper house is unique in Australian politics, in that historically it is the only chamber in any state parliament to be significantly non-partisan. As of 2024, the chamber had a plurality of independents, although it has previously had an outright independent majority. Following the 2025 periodic elections, the Council returned to being majority Independent after the election of Casey Hiscutt in Montgomery.
Unlike other Australian state parliaments, the Legislative Council is elected from single-member districts, while the Tasmanian House of Assembly is elected from multi-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. proposed abolishing the Council and merging some of the electorates into the Tasmanian House of Assembly. However the council would not agree to any of these proposals. During Tony Rundle's government the Legislative Council finally allowed passage of the Parliamentary Reform Bill 1998, reducing the number of seats in the chamber from 19 to 15, and redistributing all seats through an independent Distribution Tribunal, abolishing a previous rural bias which had led to unequal seats. However, the seats were not named after their geographic location, often using land district or county names unfamiliar to most residents, so considerable confusion for voters ensued in determining which seat they were located in.
At the 2024 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election, Cassy O'Connor became the first Tasmanian Greens member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council.
Electorates
right|thumb|Map of the 15 [[Tasmanian Legislative Council electoral divisions|Tasmanian Legislative Council electorates]]
The 15 single-member electoral divisions of the Tasmanian Legislative Council are:
- Derwent
- Elwick
- Hobart
- Huon
- Launceston
- McIntyre
- Mersey
- Montgomery
- Murchison
- Nelson
- Pembroke
- Prosser
- Rosevears
- Rumney
- Windermere
Periodic review
A review of Legislative Council division boundaries is required every 9 years to maintain a population variation of less than 10% between the divisions. This ensures that each member of the Legislative Council represents approximately the same number of electors. Redistribution reviews also take into account the community interest of each division.
The most recent redistribution was completed in 2017 which saw the electorates of Apsley and Western Tiers abolished, and the establishment of the McIntyre and Prosser electorates.
Members
Current distribution of seats
The current distribution of seats (updated post 2025 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic elections) is:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
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! Party
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! colspan=15| Seat distribution
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| style="text-align:left;" | Independents || 8 || 53.3%
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| style="text-align:left;" | Liberal Party || 3 || 20.0%
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| style="text-align:left;" | Labor Party || 3 || 20.0%
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| style="text-align:left;" | Greens || 1 || 6.7%
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Positions
Presiding Officer
When the Legislative Council of Van Diemen's Land was created in 1825 it was a fully nominated body with the Lieutenant-Governor as Presiding Officer. Between 1850 and 1856 the Presiding Officer in the Legislative Council was known as the Speaker. Sir Richard Dry was the first elected to hold this position. As part of wider parliamentary changes the title was changed in 1856 to President.
The current President of the Legislative Council is Derwent MLC Craig Farrell.
Committees
Public Accounts Committee
The Public Accounts committee is a Joint Committee, meaning that it is composed of members from both houses of parliament. Currently, there are three Legislative Councilors and three Members of the House of Assembly on this committee. This composition is unique in Australia where most Public Accounts Committees are dominated by lower house members.
This committee is commonly referred to as the most powerful committee in an Australian Parliament. It has the power to look into any issue pertaining to the financials of the State, including government agencies, to ensure that money is going where it is intended. The committee can establish its own inquiries, without parliamentary authorisation.
The Committee is currently chaired by Independent member for Murchison, Ruth Forrest.
Subordinate Legislation Committee
One of the common functions of Australian upper houses is to scrutinise subordinate legislation. Subordinate legislation is necessary because the executive needs a means of creating rules more detailed than can be in legislation. The Subordinate Legislation Committee is established by statute in Subordinate Legislation Committee Act 1969. This is also a joint committee, composed of three members from each house.
The Subordinate Legislation Committee examines every regulation made by the executive. If the committee is of the view that the regulation does not comply with the Act under which it was made, it can refer the regulation to the parliament. Either the House of Assemble or the Legislative Council can pass a resolution that disallows the regulation. This disallowance is not retrospective and will not affect the actions taken while the regulation was in effect. If neither House is sitting, then the Committee can force the authority which made the regulation to; amend the regulation to make it consistent with a model suggested by the Committee, rescind the regulation completely, or suspend the regulation until both Houses of Parliament have dealt with the report of the Committee.
The Subordinate Legislation Committee is not intended to examine the political effect of the regulation, rather they simply examine whether the regulation is clear, conforms with the Act under which it was made, and does not impinge on judicial jurisdiction.
Public Works Committee
The Public Works committee is created under the Public Works Committee Act 1914 and is composed of four members, two from the HoA and two from the LC. The function of the Public Works Committee is to examine any proposed public work in Tasmania that will cost more than $5,000,000. The work cannot commence until the committee has passed it. The PWC examines the public value of the work, the necessity of the work, and whether it will produce revenue as expected.
If the Committee decides that it does not meet these standards, then it has the power to prevent work going ahead. The Committee can also suggest changes to a project.
In 2015, the Committee examined the proposal to replace the St Pauls River Bridge outside Avoca. The committee recommended that the new bridge was built but suggested that the old bridge be retained for pedestrian access bridge.
Sessional Committees
There are two Legislative Council Sessional Committees, Government Administration A and Government Administration B with half the MLCs on one Committee and half on the other. These are composed entirely of Legislative Councilors. Sessional Committees are always sitting and can examine any issue relating to the Ministry for which they are responsible, or any bill referred to it by the Legislative Council.
An example of a Sessional Committee is the 'Legislative Council Sessional Committee Government Administration A: Sub-Committee Fin Fish Farming in Tasmania' which held its first hearing on 11 February 2020. This Sessional Committee terms of reference indicate it was established to examine the implementation of the Sustainable Industry Growth Plan for the Salmon Industry in Tasmania.
Select Committees
Select Committees are established to conduct an inquiry on one specific issue and then normally cease to exist once they have tabled their final report. The Standing Orders of the LC governs these Committees and the LC can confer powers to examine witnesses or issue summons upon the committee. This is especially important as the LC cannot amend money bills.
See also
- Members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1879
- Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
Notes
External links
- Tasmanian Electoral Commission - Legislative Council
- Tasmanian Parliament website
::* List of members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council
::* Tasmania Parliament History
::*Tasmanian Parliamentary Committees