Tasmanian Government

Tasmanian Government
Tasmanian Government
State government
Overview
Established	2 December 1856; 168 years ago as responsible colonial government; 1 January 1901; 124 years ago as an Australian state;
State	Tasmania
Country	Australia
Leader	Premier of Tasmania (Jeremy Rockliff)
Appointed by	Governor of Tasmania (Barbara Baker) on behalf of the King (Charles III)
Main organ	Executive Council of Tasmania (de jure); Cabinet of Tasmania (de facto);
Ministries	8 Government Departments
Responsible to	Parliament of Tasmania
Annual budget	$8.7 billion (2023-2024)
Headquarters	Executive Building; 15 Murray Street, Hobart
Website	tas.gov.au

The Tasmanian Government is the executive branch of the Australian state of Tasmania. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania, is invited by the governor of Tasmania to form the executive. The governor appoints the premier of Tasmania.

Since 8 April 2022, the premier of Tasmania has been Jeremy Rockliff, leader of the Liberal Party. The current ministry of Tasmania is the Second Rockliff ministry.

Constitutional framework

Tasmania is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary responsible government based on the model of the United Kingdom. Legislative power rests with the bicameral Parliament of Tasmania, which consists of the governor of Tasmania, and the two chambers: the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly.^[2]

Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, consisting of the governor and senior ministers, and informally called the Cabinet. In practice, executive power is exercised by the premier of Tasmania upon the advice of the Cabinet. Cabinet members are appointed by the governor but hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the House of Assembly.

Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of Tasmania and a system of subordinate courts. As with all states, upon federation, Tasmania accepted the authority of the federal High Court of Australia to overrule the state judiciary.

Cabinet of Tasmania


Second Rockliff Ministry
Minister	Jeremy Rockliff MP	Guy Barnett MP
Minister for	Premier Tourism Trade and Major Investment (since 8 April 2022)	Deputy Premier Attorney-General Treasurer Justice (since 15 October 2024)
Department Administered	Premier and Cabinet Tourism Tasmania State Growth	Justice Treasury and Finance
Minister	Eric Abetz MP	Madeleine Ogilvie MP
Minister for	Business, Industry and Resources Transport (since 11 April 2024)	Innovation, Science and Digital Economy Corrections and Rehabilitation Environment Arts and Heritage(since 11 April 2024)
Department Administered	State Growth	State Growth Justice Natural Resources and Environment
Minister	Nick Duigan MLC	Felix Ellis MP
Minister for	Energy and Renewables Parks Sport and Events (11 April 2024)	Police, Fire and Emergency Management Housing, Planning and Consumer Affairs Skills and Training (11 April 2024)
Department Administered	State Growth	Justice Communities State Growth
Minister	Jane Howlett MP	Roger Jaensch MP
Minister for	Primary Industries and Water Hospitality and Small Business Racing (since 11 April 2024)	Children and Young People Mental Health and Wellbeing Community Services Finance (since 20 October 2024)
Department Administered	Natural Resources and Environment State Growth	Education, Children and Young People Health Communities Treasury and Finance
Minister	Jo Palmer MLC	Jacquie Petrusma MP
Minister for	Education Disability Services Women and the Prevention of Family Violence (since 12 April 2022)	Health Aboriginal Affairs Indigenous Affairs (since 20 October 2024)
Department Administered	Education Health	Health
Minister	Kerry Vincent MLC
Minister for	Infrastructure Local Government (since 20 October 2024
Department Administered	Infrastructure Local Government
Assistant Ministry
Assistant Minister	Simon Behrakis MP	Rob Fairs MP
Assistant Minister for	Assistant to the Premier Housing and Planning (since 11 April 2024)	Youth Engagement (since 11 April 2024)
Department Administered	Premier and Cabinet State Growth	Education, Children and Young People
Assistant Minister	Simon Wood MP
Assistant Minister for	Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing (since 11 April 2024)
Department Administered	Health

Tasmanian government agencies

The Tasmanian Government delivers services, determines policy, and issues regulations through a number of agencies grouped under areas of portfolio responsibility. Each portfolio is led by a Secretary, who reports to one or more government ministers, a member of Parliament. Since reorganisation in 2022^[3] the departmental structure is the following

Department of Education, Children and Young People
Department of Health
Department of Justice
Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management
Department of Premier and Cabinet
Department of Natural Resources and Environment
Department of State Growth
Department of Treasury and Finance

A range of other agencies support the functions of these departments.

State-owned enterprises

The Government of Tasmania also owns and operates a number of state-owned companies:^[4]

Aurora Energy: electricity and gas retailer.
Sustainable Timber Tasmania: the manager of public forests and plantations for logging, sawmilling and woodchipping.
Hydro Tasmania: a large generator of electricity, management of hydroelectric schemes. Also owns a mainland Australian energy retailer, Momentum Energy.
Tasmanian Irrigation: tasked with the planning, construction and maintenance of the Tasmanian Irrigation Schemes culminating pipes, dams and pumping stations.
Metro Tasmania: a public transportation company, running busses in the metropolitan areas of the state. Metro is under de-facto administration of the Department of State Growth.
Motor Accidents Insurance Board (MAIB): public insurance resulting from car accidents.
Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority: operates the tourism venture at Port Arthur, maintains the ruins of the gaol and historic site.
Public Trustee: an independent trustee organisation.
Tascorp: management of the other public companies' finances and government investment.
TasNetworks: electricity transmission and distribution.
TasPorts: port management and stevedoring.
Tasracing: the operator of Tasmania's horse and dog racing venues, management of betting
TasRail: rail freight transportation, railway management.
TT-Line Company: operates the Bass Strait ferries.

Other levels of government

Federal representation of Tasmania

As a state of Australia, Tasmania is represented in the federal House of Representatives and Senate. Tasmania has five representatives in the federal House of Representatives for the electoral divisions of Bass, Braddon, Denison, Franklin and Lyons. In line with other states, Tasmania also has twelve Senators.

Australian House of Representatives
Party		Faction	Representative	Background	Representative since
	Liberal	Moderate	Bridget Archer	George Town Council	18 May 2019
	Liberal	National Right	Gavin Pearce	Army soldier	18 May 2019
	Labor	Socialist Left	Brian Mitchell	Labor staffer	2 July 2016
	Labor	Socialist Left	Julie Collins	Labor staffer	24 November 2007
	Independent	N/A	Andrew Wilkie	Army soldier	21 August 2010
Australian Senate
Party		Faction	Senator	Background	Senator since
	Liberal	National Right	Wendy Askew	Political adviser	6 March 2019
	Liberal	National Right	Claire Chandler	Liberal organiser	1 July 2019
	Liberal	National Right	Jonathon Duniam	Liberal staffer	2 July 2016
	Liberal	Moderate	Richard Colbeck	Devonport City Council	2002-2016, 9 February 2018
	Labor	Socialist Left	Carol Brown	Labor staffer	25 August 2005
	Labor	Socialist Left	Anne Urquhart	Labor staffer	1 July 2011
	Labor	Right	Helen Polley	Labor staffer	1 July 2005
	Labor	Right	Catryna Bilyk	Labor staffer	1 July 2008
	Greens	Mainstream	Nick McKim	Tasmanian minister	19 August 2015
	Greens	Mainstream	Peter Whish-Wilson	ADFA	20 June 2012
	Lambie	N/A	Jacqui Lambie	Army soldier	2014-2017, 1 July 2019
	Independent	N/A	Tammy Tyrrell	Lambie staffer	1 July 2022
Cabinet of Australia
Party		Faction	Minister	Portfolio	Minister since
	Labor	Socialist Left	Julie Collins	Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry	intermittently since 2011

Local government in Tasmania

29 local government elections are conducted under the Local Government Act using the Hare-Clark voting system of multi-member proportional representation. Elections for mayor, deputy mayor and half the councillor positions are held during September and October in each uneven numbered year. These include six cities (three in greater Hobart, one covering each of Launceston, Burnie, and Devonport) and twenty-three municipalities. The largest council (by number of eligible voters) is the City of Launceston and the smallest council is the Flinders Council (which serves Flinders Island and the surrounds, with just over 800 electors)

References

^ Tasmanian Government (May 2023). "The Budget: Budget Paper no. 1" (PDF).
^ Constitution Act 1934 (Tas) s.10
^ "Department Structures to Strengthen Tasmanian Outcomes". Premier of Tasmania. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ "Tasmanian Government Businesses". Tasmanian Department of Treasury and Finance. Tasmanian Government.

External links

[1] Tasmanian Government (May 2023). "The Budget: Budget Paper no. 1" (PDF).

[2] Constitution Act 1934 (Tas) s.10

[3] "Department Structures to Strengthen Tasmanian Outcomes". Premier of Tasmania. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[4] "Tasmanian Government Businesses". Tasmanian Department of Treasury and Finance. Tasmanian Government.

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