Tasmanians overwhelmingly endorsed the Liberal Party in the State election on 15 March.
The Liberals won 15 seats in the 25-seat Lower House on the back of polling more than 52 per cent of the first preference vote across the five electorates. Labor won seven seats and the Greens three
Each of Tasmania’s five electorates returns five members. The Liberals won four seats in Braddon, three in Bass, Lyons and Franklin and two in Denison.
Labor – which governed in an alliance with the Greens up until March 15 – lost seats in Braddon, Bass and Franklin while the Greens lost their seats in Lyons and Braddon, both electorates where the Liberal vote was at historically high levels.
It was one of Labor’s worst election results in the last 60 years in Tasmania, with its primary vote falling to about 28 per cent of the first preference vote.
Likewise, the Greens were treated harshly by the electorate with their vote falling by about 40 per cent compared with 2010.
The forestry issue, which has dominated the Tasmanian political landscape for decades, was a key issue in the poll. It will remain at the fore with the Liberals vowing to tear up the Tasmanian Forestry Agreement struck between conservationists, industry and the former government claiming it is bad for the economy and bad for jobs.
The Labor-Green social agenda, including a strong push for same-sex marriage, is also unlikely to be pursued by the new government.
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