Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Tasmania
Overlaying this regional structure are the five House of Assembly electorates
discussed above, each about the same size, in terms of voter numbers, and with
boundaries drawn around communities of interest. The same electorates also give
Tasmania five seats in the House of Representatives – and 12 senators in the
Australian parliament, as negotiated under the Federation process, primarily by
TasmanianAndrewInglisClark, 25 an admirer of the US constitution.
Despite its small population, equal representation in the Senate means Tasmania’s
demands cannot be ignored federally. Competition between the regions
and the voices of regional representatives at both the state and federal levels has
often led to duplication of services and infrastructure where they cannot be justified
by size of population alone. The state’s different regional economies have often led
to reliance on a small number of key industries or businesses to sustain employment,
which can give a relatively small number of businesses a stronger voice in
the halls of government when lobbying for infrastructure, access to resources or
financial assistance.
The state’s smallness creates issues for governing and governance. All political
parties, at times, find it difficult to find capable candidates to fill vacancies. Name
recognition has seen the establishment of political ‘dynasties’, where members get
elected based on their family name. For example, current Liberal Premier Will Hodgman
is the son of former federal and state MP Michael Hodgman, whose father,
William Hodgman, was a former president of the Legislative Council. The current
member for Denison, Scott Bacon, is the son of former Labor Premier Jim Bacon.
The same issue causes problems in filling positions at all levels of government, from
the judiciary to appointments and promotions in the public service, to filling board
positions on government–business enterprises. Relatively small networks in business
and politics mean it is hard to find people who have no past affiliations or business
associations that can lead to suspicions of cronyism and nepotism.
More than 95 per cent of Tasmanian businesses are classified as ‘small’. 26 By
comparison, some government-owned businesses are big employers and have more
financial resources, which give them a dominant voice in key policy arenas. The
political power of a small number of private-sector business leaders, investors
and large (in Tasmanian terms) employers has also been a cause for concern.
For example, during the 2018 state election, a high profile advertising campaign
fundedbygamingindustrylobbygroupsagainstaLaborandGreenspolicyto
remove gaming machines from pubs and clubs was both effective and reminiscent
of the forest industry campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s. It is arguable that the
government was returned due to that campaign, and thus the Liberals are in debt to
thegamblingindustry. 27
25 The same Clark as in the ‘Hare-Clark’ voting system.
26 Department of State Growth 2019.
27 See also Knaus and Evershed 2019 on the gambling lobby’s donations to the Liberals ahead of
the 2018 state election, totalling $500,000.
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